Search engine giant Google has reportedly delayed rolling out of its AI feature known as Overview AI across Europe due to tough regulatory requirements within the bloc.
A senior executive working at the US tech giant revealed that the regulatory uncertainties in most European countries had forced Google to put on hold its search integrated AI feature.
EU rules deter Google from its potential
Overview AI was launched in March in eight EU members including Austria, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, and Switzerland. The company however held back on the remaining countries within the bloc as it assesses their laws.
According to Euronews, the AI feature aims to assist users ask new kinds of questions and find information across the web.
Now, it is not yet known if Overview AI will still come to countries like France, as it has strict national rules when it comes to neighboring rights and copyright, which is in addition to the EU rules, and remains moot, but is “not impossible,” according to one official.
The tool was rolled out in the EU nine months after its launch in the US and other jurisdictions. According to Euronews, the senior Google official revealed that the EU has a flurry of tech rules to include the AI Act, Digital Services Act (DSA) and Digital Markets Act (DMA) have a knock on effect on any potential new innovations in the region.
The official added these rules “hold back the launch of innovative features,” leading to worries around product innovation.
The AI Act is reportedly the world’s first comprehensive AI regulation with the aim of ensuring safety, transparency, and trustworthy AI. The Act also classifies systems by risk and enforces requirements on providers and users with some applications not allowed.
Is the EU short-changing its citizens by thwarting the likes of Google
According to the official, the EU region is lagging other countries in tech and risks widening the gap due to its stringent rules that thwart innovation and the tech sector.
“The EU is behind when it comes to product innovation and users in Europe will have a less good product experience.”
The executive.
A 2024 research by a Brussels-based tech industry lobby group Digital Europe also confirmed that Europe lags behind the US and China in terms of investment in AI.
Digital Europe also warned that “complex regulations hinder European companies’ growth and scalability, often forcing them to seek more favourable markets.”
Google is not alone in in its problems with the EU bloc. It just adds to recent concerns that social media giant Meta raised as it launched an AI assistant in Europe after regulatory disputes last year.
“It’s taken longer than we would have liked to get our AI technology into the hands of people in Europe as we continue to navigate its complex regulatory system, but we’re glad we’re finally here,” Meta said earlier last month.
Meta, together with its chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg and global policy chief Joel Kaplan have criticized Europe’s regulatory action against US tech companies, according to Euronews, even more so after the new Trump administration took office in January.
With its several rules, the EU has been seen as more of a regulator than an innovator of AI technology. However, according to DW, the EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen has vowed to make it easier for AI innovators to look for investment and grow Europe.
The US has been piling pressure on the EU over its stringent regulatory landscape. During the Paris AI summit, US Vice President JD Vance rebuked the bloc’s online content rulebook –dubbed the Digital Services Act – before declaring that the US is the world’s AI leader and plans to “keep it that way.
At the same summit, the US refused to sign an international document and approved by 60 nations including Germany, Brazil, France, South Africa, Kenya, UAE, China, and India.
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