Regulator orders Google to let publishers opt out of AI

Britain's competition regulator has ordered Google to overhaul how its artificial intelligence features use publisher content, a move it describes as a global first. The Competition and Markets Authority announced on Wednesday that it has imposed new conduct requirements on the tech giant's search services, giving publishers the right to block their material from being used to power AI-generated search summaries.

Under the ruling, website owners, including news organizations, will be able to opt out of having their content appear in features like Google's AI Overviews. They will also be able to prevent their content from being used to fine-tune the company's AI models. The regulator said these tools will strengthen publishers' bargaining power when negotiating content deals with Google. The company has been given nine months to implement the full scope of changes, though the CMA expects key controls to be available sooner.

The decision follows the CMA's designation of Google last year as having "strategic market status" in general search services, a classification based on its "substantial and entrenched market power." The regulator found that Google accounts for more than 90...