The French competition authority Autorité de la concurrence has fined Google €250 million.
The multi-million dollar fine follows after Google used news reports from French media companies to train chatbot Bard, now known as Gemini. Gemini would also reproduce these French news reports.
According to Autorité de la concurrence, Google did not notify the regulator, publishers and other media companies of using their content to train its GenAI chatbot and that it also reproduces the messages. According to previous agreements with the Autorité de la concurrence, Google should have done so.
The tech giant did not allow the publishers and media companies in question to object to using their content for training Bard without also affecting the display of these messages on other Google services. According to the regulator, this action undermined the ability of publishers and news agencies to negotiate compensation.
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Fine as early as 2021
Since 2021, Google has been involved in disputes over the use of news content in France with French publishers, media companies, and the Autorité de la concurrence. That year, Google was fined 500 million euros for allegedly not negotiating in good faith with publishers and media companies over the rights of news stories.
In 2022, the two sides agreed to abide by seven conditions Google had to abide by in France for using and/or relaying news stories. However, in the recent Bard/Gemini case, the tech giant allegedly violated four of these conditions, including failure to notify, according to external research commissioned by the Autorité de la concurrence. This led to a new fine of 250 million euros.
The French competition authority also wants other major tech companies to agree with publishers and media companies on their content’s (re)use.
Admissions
Google has not publicly responded to the fine imposed by the French competition regulator. However, the tech giant did admit guilt in this most recent case and indicated that it is taking measures to prevent a recurrence.
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