The French competition authority, Autorité de la Concurrence, has imposed a hefty €250 million fine on Google for breaching copyright rules.Â
The tech giant allegedly utilized content from press agencies and publishers to train its AI model, Bard, now known as Gemini, without proper notification or authorization.
This marks the fourth decision in four years against Google in this ongoing case.
The authority’s statement highlights Google’s failure to comply with the French law on related rights, aimed at fostering fair negotiations between digital platforms and media entities.
Specifically addressing the use of data to train Google’s AI tool, the Autorité de la Concurrence emphasized Google’s obstruction of press agencies and publishers’ ability to negotiate fair compensation for their content.
 Google, while not contesting the facts, has proposed corrective measures and agreed to the fine as part of a settlement procedure.
This incident reignites debates surrounding the ethical use of media content for AI training.
In a similar vein, the New York Times recently filed a lawsuit against Google’s rival, OpenAI, and its partner Microsoft, alleging unauthorized use of its content to train AI chatbots.
