Japan Fair Trade Commission to probe AI search services at Google, Microsoft and LY Corp in 2025

The Japan Fair Trade Commission plans a fact-finding investigation into AI-driven search services provided by companies including Google, Microsoft and Japan’s LY Corp., focusing on potential antimonopoly law violations related to the use of news content. The probe, described by an official as a move to better understand current practices, will also cover conversational AI operators such as OpenAI and Perplexity AI and will extend a 2023 investigation into online news distribution contracts. In parallel, European and UK regulators are tightening scrutiny of large US tech firms over generative AI training data, adtech practices and competition rules.