Google Fined 250 Million Euros by France for Violations Related to AI and Media Publishers
France's competition authority has imposed a fine of 250 million euros ($271.73 million) on Alphabet's Google for breaching EU intellectual property regulations in its interactions with media publishers, citing concerns regarding the company's AI service.
According to Reuters, Google’s AI chatbot Bard, now known as Gemini, was trained on content from publishers and news agencies without their prior knowledge, the watchdog revealed.
Google has committed to not contesting the facts in the global proceedings and has proposed several measures to address certain deficiencies.
The fine stems from a copyright dispute in France concerning online content, following complaints from some of the country’s major news organizations, including Agence France Presse (AFP).
Although the dispute seemed to have been resolved in 2022 when the US tech giant withdrew its appeal against the initial €500 million fine, the watchdog announced on Wednesday that Google had violated terms of four out of seven obligations agreed upon in the settlement. These include negotiating in good faith with publishers and providing transparent information.
The authority specifically highlighted Google’s AI chatbot Bard, launched in 2023, which it claimed was trained on data from undisclosed media and news agencies without the company or regulator’s knowledge.
