EU: Antitrust probe into Google’s use of content for AI is an important step

EU: Antitrust probe into Google's use of content for AI is an important step

Posted on December 10, 2025 Digital 3 min read Share: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on LinkedIn

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EU: Antitrust probe into Google's use of content for AI is an important step - Digital

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ARTICLE 19 welcomes the European Commission's antitrust investigation into Google's use of online content for artificial intelligence (AI) purposes.

On 9 December, the European Commission has opened a formal antitrust investigation to assess whether Google has abused its dominant position by using the content of web publishers, as well as content uploaded on the online video-sharing platform YouTube, for AI purposes.

ARTICLE 19 believes that this investigation is an important and timely step for the Commission to take, and one which should contribute to laying the ground for a new Digital Markets Act (DMA) market investigation aimed at updating DMA obligations with regard to AI -as we have urged and set out in detail in the our contribution to the Commission's DMA review consultation.

Coming soon after the Commission's announcement of an investigation into a potential breach of the DMA by Google for demoting media publishers' content in search results, this latest investigation will lookat Google's use of content to power its AI tools.

On the one hand, the Commission will investigate to what extent the generation of AI Overviews and AI Mode by Google is based on web publishers' content without appropriate compensation, and without the possibility for publishers to refuse without losing access to Google Search. On the other hand, it will look at how Google uses content uploaded on YouTube to train its own generative AI models without appropriate compensation to creators and without offering them the possibility to refuse such use of their content.

Access to content is key to train generative AI models. The European Commission has a crucial role to play to prevent those in a position of power with such access from entrenching their dominance by imposing unfair conditions on content creators and excluding competitors from entering the market.

The behaviours under investigation also have a clear impact on the diversity of the information ecosystem, and on the sustainability of the media sector. Online publishers depend on Google's search referrals, given its gatekeeper position in search, and should not be compelled to make their content available for republication in AI Overviews or for AI training and grounding purposes. Moreover, by diverting traffic from publishers' sites back into Google's own environment, users remain within Google's ecosystem rather than exploring external sources. That entrenches Google as the default destination for information and further isolates it from competition.

ARTICLE 19 hopes that the Commission will be able to reach well-founded conclusions rapidly, and that this initiative will soon contribute to make AI related markets fairer and more contestable.