Google Fined by French Watchdog over IP Breach, Announces New AI Hub in Paris
Summary:
France's competition watchdog has imposed a fine on Google for breach of EU intellectual property laws related to its media publishers. The fine pertains to licensing agreements with French press publishers carried out inappropriately by Google. The tech giant acknowledges the fine and consequences, calling to shift focus towards sustainable methods of connecting users with quality content. Additionally, Google collaborates with the French government to establish a new AI hub in Paris to support the country's AI development.
France's competition watchdog has imposed a penalty on Google for a prior violation of European Union intellectual property laws regarding its media publishers. Google's AI service, originally Bard and now Gemini, was reportedly trained using content from local news agencies and publishers without obtaining necesssary permissions, leading to the issues raised by the French competition authority. Google addressed the fine via its French blog, maintaining that it is the only platform to hold licensing agreements with 280 press publishers in France, costing several tens of millions of euros each year. The company indicated the fine occurred due to their negotiation approach with these firms, and the authority's insistence on altering these tactics. Google agreed to this change and the penalty to resolve the long-standing case. Expressing a desire to concentrate on sustainable methods for connecting internet users with quality content and working positively with French publishers. Google considered the fine as excessive based on the faults highlighted by the French watchdog, while their efforts to address comments from regulators were overlooked due to the complex nature of defining a course of action without a clear direction. The fine is linked to a copyright dispute in France instigated by complaints from renowned news companies, including Agence France Presse, about online content. This follows Google's recent collaboration with the French government on Feb. 19 to establish a new AI hub in Paris, bolstering the country's focus on AI. The hub is expected to house nearly 300 researchers and engineers. Additionally, France is the home base for the AI startup Mistral AI and its Mistral Large language model, which Microsoft plans to incorporate into Azure AI Studio and Azure Machine Learning through a partnership with the company.
Published At
3/20/2024 4:25:19 PM
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