Brussels: EU antitrust regulators are probing whether Google’s long-term generative artificial intelligence (AI) agreement with Samsung might hinder competing chatbots on Samsung smartphones, according to an EU document reviewed by the international news agency Reuters.
The European Commission announced last month its intention to request information to better comprehend the implications of the deal, which involves Samsung embedding Google’s Gemini Nano AI in its upcoming Galaxy S24 series smartphones. This investigation could pave the way for the EU antitrust authority to take action against the companies if any anti-competitive practices are identified.
The questionnaire issued by the regulators inquires whether the pre-installation of Gemini Nano, either through the device or the cloud, restricts the number of other generative AI systems that can be pre-installed on the same device. Additionally, the regulators are interested in understanding if the pre-installation of Gemini Nano hampers interoperability between other chatbots and apps pre-installed on Samsung smartphones.
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Industry participants were also asked if they had attempted but failed to secure agreements with device manufacturers to pre-install their chatbots, along with detailed reasons for their rejections. Respondents have until this week to complete and submit the eight-page questionnaire.
