Oliver Conway

And as the publishers see it from stealing that information, I mean, it's a bit like a pop star being told, sorry, we're not going to pay you for performing anymore.

But thanks very much for teaching our computer how to sing your songs.

Now, Google's parent company is also accused of harvesting material that people upload to YouTube, which they also own.

And in all of these cases, they say people don't have the chance to opt out of having their material exploited.

So the EU is investigating this.

What does Google say about it?

We've had a statement from their parent company, Alphabet.

They say Europeans deserve to benefit from the latest technologies and the EU's investigation risks stifling innovation.

Effectively, what it seems to be saying is that the current system benefits consumers of information.

The allegation is they're less concerned with the people who produce it.

And this is just the latest in a series of EU cases involving US tech companies.

Indeed.

I mean, only a few days ago, the platform X was fined $140 million by the European Union because of its blue tick system.

You can pay X to get a blue tick on your account, which shows that it's genuine.

What the EU said is actually these accounts aren't properly verified and the blue tick gives a false sense of safety.

But yes, this is just one of many investigations and legal cases.

And I should say this is becoming very political.

I mean, the current administration in Washington is no great fan of the European Union generally.

but it particularly dislikes any attempt to regulate and to fine America's tech giants.

Speaking about the fine on X, the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, said this was foreign governments attacking American companies.