Brussels has slapped Google with a whopping €890m (£759m) fine for supposedly shoving its own services in front of rivals in search results. According to the European Commission, the search giant violated the EU’s new Digital Services Act by restricting consumer choice and giving itself an ‘unfair advantage’ over competitors. Google isn’t alone – they also handed out a €120 million fine to Musk’s X last year…
The ‘Executive Vice-President of the European Commission for Technological Sovereignty, Security, and Democracy’ (still a ridiculous title) Henna Virkkunen said:
“After this decision, we want to make sure that there is more competition and also other companies are able to innovate…”
The reality is Google is now following other tech companies in restricting its services in Europe, rather than bothering to jump through all the ridiculous hoops Brussels tries to impose:
“To comply, we are having to strip away real-time Search features Europeans love – like instant pricing and direct availability for hotels, flights and restaurants – and dismantle safety protections on Google Play…”
OpenAI delays the rollout of its most advanced ChatGPT tools to Europe. Apple’s upcoming AI features won’t launch in the continent at all. Europe is a regulatory nightmare and it will get left behind very quickly if this carries on…
The geniuses at the European Commission have launched their second investigation into Google in less than a month, this time over antitrust claims relating to how the tech giant trains its AI models. They’re on a roll here: just last week, they fined X Corp €120 million over bogus ‘transparency’ issues relating to blue checkmarks…
Earlier this year, Google was fined an eye-watering €3 billion for ‘abusing’ its position in online advertising. Now the EU wants more money and is coming back for seconds. Teresa Ribera, the EU’s Executive Vice-President of the European Commission for Clean, Just and Competitive Transition (seriously, where do they come up with this nonsense?) said:
“Google may be abusing its dominant position as a search engine to impose unfair trading conditions on publishers by using their online content to provide its own AI-powered services. A healthy information ecosystem depends on publishers having the resources to produce quality content. We will not allow gatekeepers to dictate those choices.”
Look at the chart below. The EU makes more money by fining American companies that are actually bothering to innovate than it takes in tax from public European tech firms.
Companies like Apple have now disabled certain AI features in the EU just to avoid the hassle of dealing with Brussels’ nonsense. At this rate, don’t be surprised if a French iPhone can barely take pictures in a few years’ time. Does anyone wonder why?
Bad times over at big tech giant Google, whose staff at AI division DeepMind are in the process of unionising with the antediluvian dinosaurs at the Communication Workers Union. Nothing to do with employment rights, rather due to DeepMind’s contracts with Israel…
Top engineers at DeepMind – many of whom earn some of the biggest salaries in UK tech – are collectivising over the ‘ethics’ at Google, according to a CWU figure, with one engineer accusing his employer of ‘sacrificing morals for greed’. According to reports over the weekend, those involved with the “unionisation drive” also cited a $1.2 billion cloud computing agreement between Google and Amazon and the Israeli Government as an issue for the 300 employees now apparently seeking to join the CWU. Five employees have reportedly already quit their roles, with the contract and the changed AI pledge cited as the reason…
Last May, around 200 Google DeepMind workers wrote to company bosses calling on them to drop contracts with military organisations, citing reports about Google’s contract with Israel’s Ministry of Defence. Should Google DeepMind recognise the unionisation attempts, the staff will try to derail defence deals – or strike. Over in the US, when Google staff staged a similar sit-in over contracts with Israel last year, Google fired them. Did the job…
Lord Khan in the Telegraph: “I hope, and I say this in a non-pompous way, that the public service I do will bring rewards in this world and the hereafter,” he says. “I’m hoping the work I do is earning me Brownie points.”
