Brussels targets Google's AI in escalating tech war with Washington

BRUSSELS (CN) — European regulators launched an antitrust investigation into Google on Tuesday over accusations the tech giant is illegally strip-mining content from websites and YouTube videos to build its artificial intelligence tools without paying creators or giving them any way to refuse.

The European Commission — the EU’s executive body — is investigating whether Google violated EU competition rules by strong-arming publishers and content creators while reserving privileged access to their work for itself — potentially kneecapping rival AI developers in the process. The probe targets Google’s AI-powered search features that generate summaries using publisher content, and YouTube’s terms that require creators to let Google train AI models on their videos without compensation.

Brussels says it’s enforcing the law. Washington says it’s picking a fight.

The move marks the EU’s latest strike against U.S. tech companies in what’s become an extraordinarily volatile week for transatlantic relations. Just four days earlier, the EU fined Elon Musk’s X 120 million euros ($140 million) for deceiving users with paid verification badges and blocking researchers.

That Friday fine detonated in Washington. Vice President JD Vance accused Brussels of attacking U.S. companies over “garbage.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio called it “an attack on all American tech platforms and the American people.” Musk spent the weekend comparing the EU to Nazi Germany and demanding the bloc be “abolished.”

Yet even as European leaders publicly counsel patience — and President Donald Trump calls Europe “a decaying group of nations run by weak people” — the commission keeps turning the regulatory screws.

Now Google finds itself in Brussels’ crosshairs over how it’s building its AI empire.

Chief competition official Teresa Ribera framed the investigation as part of Brussels’ duty to enforce EU law regardless of external pressure. “It is our duty to stand up in order to defend values and the enforcement of our laws,” she told a conference Tuesday morning, adding pointedly: “Even in times of weaponizing of trade.”

The probe zeroes in on two practices. First, regulators want to know if Google’s AI-powered search features use publisher content to generate responses without compensation or the ability to refuse. AI Overviews displays AI-generated summaries at the top of search results, above the traditional links to actual websites. AI Mode works more like a chatbot, answering questions in a conversational back-and-forth.

“Publishers depend on Google Search for user traffic, and they do not want to risk losing access to it,” regulators said. The concern is straightforward: websites feel trapped. Say no to Google using your content for AI, risk disappearing from search results and losing your audience.

Google delayed rolling out both AI Overviews and AI Mode in the EU for months, facing what the company has described as regulatory uncertainty over Europe’s new tech rules. AI Overviews reached nine EU countries in March 2025, ten months after launching in the U.S., while AI Mode didn’t arrive in most of Europe until October.

The delay may have spared European publishers the traffic carnage their U.S. counterparts have experienced. A Pew Research Center study published in July found that users clicked on traditional search results just 8% of the time when AI summaries appeared — nearly half the 15% rate without them. The study tracked nearly 69,000 Google searches from 900 U.S. adults in March 2025. Users clicked links within the AI summaries themselves only 1% of the time.

Second, Brussels is examining YouTube’s terms of service, which require creators to grant Google permission to use their uploaded videos for training AI models. Google doesn’t pay for this, and creators can’t upload to YouTube without agreeing. Meanwhile, YouTube’s policies bar competing AI developers from using the same content for their own models.

Google, owned by Alphabet Inc., defended its AI practices in a statement to Courthouse News, warning the investigation “risks stifling innovation in a market that is more competitive than ever.” The company said it will continue working with the news and creative industries “as they transition to the AI era,” and pointed to technical controls it says let publishers opt out.

At Tuesday’s daily briefing, commission spokesperson Arianna Podestà deflected suggestions the timing was calculated to thumb Brussels’ nose at Washington. “What we want to demonstrate with today’s decision is that like always, we take decisions based on the merits of the specific cases,” she said, pointing to enforcement actions rolling out across multiple digital regulations.

Meta had scrambled just Monday to offer European users a middle ground — the ability to share less data and see fewer personalized ads starting in January — trying to mollify regulators after a 200 million-euro fine over its “pay or consent” system. The concession was the first time the company offered such a choice on Facebook and Instagram in Europe.

But commission spokespeople also made clear Brussels won’t back down under pressure. “You want to offer your services in the EU, you comply with our legislation. It’s as simple as that,” Thomas Regnier, another spokesperson, told reporters when pressed about U.S. criticism of European tech enforcement.

Brussels confirmed it notified U.S. authorities about the Google investigation shortly before going public Tuesday morning, standard practice for cases involving U.S. companies. Podestà wouldn’t speculate on Washington’s response but said future contacts were possible.

If the investigation concludes Google violated EU rules prohibiting the abuse of a dominant market position, the company could face fines of up to 10% of its global annual revenue — potentially tens of billions of dollars. Regulators gave no timeline, saying the duration depends on the case’s complexity and Google’s cooperation.

The probe adds to mounting regulatory pressure on Google in Europe. The company has accumulated over 9.5 billion euros in EU fines since 2017. The most recent hit came in September: 2.95 billion euros for rigging the digital advertising market. That case now includes structural remedies that could force Google to sell off parts of its ad tech business.

This investigation targets a different vulnerability — how tech giants are vacuuming up vast amounts of online content to build their AI capabilities. Publishers and creators increasingly complain they’re not being fairly compensated for work that’s powering billion-dollar AI systems. Whether that’s law enforcement or economic warfare depends on which side of the Atlantic you’re standing.

Courthouse News reporter Yuval Molina is based in Brussels, Belgium.