The EU has asked competitors and other GenAI industry representatives for input on Samsung and Google’s multi-year deal to install AI chatbots on Samsung smartphones as part of the (standard) competition investigation into this deal.
Competitors and other mobile and GenAI industry stakeholders can now submit their opinions to the EC on the deal between Samsung and Google for AI chatbots. This writes Reuters based on insight into an official EU document.
Samsung and Google recently signed a multi-year deal. This includes pre-installing Google’s Gemini Nano GenAI chatbot on the Samsung Galaxy S24 Series high-end smartphones.
Possible restrictions on competition
More specifically, the EU is now asking other providers and the rest of the ecosystem whether the default inclusion of the Gemini Nano AI chatbot or the cloud connections that this tool generates causes it to restrict the installation of competitors’ chatbots. In addition, it asks whether GenAI providers, in general, have tried to strike deals with smartphone manufacturers on pre-installing their AI tools and whether they have succeeded in doing so. And if they have not succeeded, they want to know whether the manufacturers have given clear reasons for doing so.
The information is being gathered to determine whether the deal between the two tech players could also be detrimental to competitors getting their AI chatbots on Samsung smartphones. If this is the case, the EU could use this information to build an anti-competition case.
Competitors and other interested parties have a week to respond.