EU antitrust regulators quiz publishers on Google’s AI search opt-out

EU antitrust regulators are seeking feedback from publishers on Google’s proposal to let them opt out of AI search without affecting their rankings in search results, a questionnaire seen by Reuters showed.

The publishers’ feedback could determine the outcome ‌of an ⁠ongoing ⁠EU investigation that could result in yet another hefty fine for ​Google if the proposal fails to address competition concerns and publishers’ ​worries about unfair use of their content.

Google announced its AI opt-out for publishers in June, the same day the ​UK antitrust watchdog ordered it to ⁠allow publishers ‌the option to stop their content being ​used to ​power its AI features.