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. The US tech giant, ⁠which plans to roll out the opt-out globally, declined to comment and referred to its June 3 blog post on the topic. How useful is AI for publishers if the contents is not allowed ?