Europe asks Google, Facebook, TikTok and other platforms how they're reducing generative AI risks

European Union regulators are ratcheting up scrutiny of big tech companies including Google, Facebook and TikTok by looking into how they’re dealing with risks from generative artificial intelligence, such as the viral spread of deepfakes

European Union regulators on Thursday ratcheted up scrutiny of big tech companies including Google, Facebook and TikTok with requests for information on how they're dealing with risks from generative artificial intelligence, such as the viral spread of deepfakes.

The European Commission, the EU's executive branch, has sent questionnaires about the ways that eight platforms and search engines — including Microsoft's Bing, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube and X, formerly Twitter — are curbing the risks of generative AI.

The 27-nation bloc is flexing new regulatory powers acquired under the Digital Services Act, a sweeping set of regulations that took effect last year with the aim of cleaning up big online platforms and keeping users safe, under threat of hefty fines.

The EU is wielding the DSA and other existing regulations to govern AI until its groundbreaking rulebook for the technology takes effect. Lawmakers approved the AI Act, the world's first comprehensive AI rules, but the provisions covering generative AI won’t kick in until next year.

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Other AI-related risks that the commission is worried about include systems coming up with false information — known as “hallucinations” — and the automated manipulation of services to mislead voters.

The commission said its requests for information are about both the creation and spread of generative AI content. For example, it's seeking internal documents on how companies have reviewed the risks and worked to mitigate them as they deal with generative AI's impact on everything from electoral processes and the spread of illegal content to gender-based violence and the protection of minors.