Google with a huge penalty. France decided that the company paid too little. There are also problems with AI training

France believes that Google has breached the agreement regarding so-called related rights. The local competition protection office accused Google of lack of transparency and good faith in negotiations with representatives of the French press. The French claim that the American giant has not fulfilled its obligations and violated European regulations on remuneration for online media.

Google must pay EUR 250 million. France decided that he paid the media too little

The whole case concerns too low compensation for the use of content provided by French digital platforms, press publishers and news agencies. Google agreed not to question the settlement proceedings, and the company was also to propose a number of solutions that would help combat shortcomings in the future –

Complaints to the French competition authority were submitted by the largest news agencies and editorial offices, including AFP (Agence France Presse). The dispute between Google and the French media has been going on for a long time. Three years ago, the Competition Protection Office imposed a fine of EUR 500 million on the American company. It seemed then that the matter had been resolved. However, on Wednesday, the French office stated that Google had violated four of the seven obligations contained in the agreement. He did not follow through on his promise to negotiate with publishers in good faith, nor did he provide clear information on what he was supposed to do.

Google trained AI on French media materials.

Google also allegedly used French media materials illegally to train its AI called Gemini (formerly Bard). According to the French office, the company did not inform either the media or the regulator that it was using these materials. Additionally, it was problematic to extend protection to content generated by AI trained on materials that did not belong to Google.

Publishers around the world have begun to fight this practice and are trying to limit it, fighting for the need to obtain consent to train AI on their materials or fair compensation for their use. The French are not alone in this, because in 2023 the New York Times sued Microsoft and OpenAI, accusing them of using millions of the newspaper’s articles to train ChatGPT.