PARIS: France’s antitrust watchdog slapped a 500 million euro ($593 million) fine on Alphabet’s Google on Tuesday for failing to comply with the regulator’s orders on how to conduct talks with the country’s news publishers in a row over copyright.
The fine comes amid increasing international pressure on online platforms such as Google and Facebook to share more revenue with news outlets.
The US tech group must now come up with proposals within the next two months on how it would compensate news agencies and other publishers for the use of their news. If it does not do that, the company would face additional fines of up to 900,000 euros per day.
Google said it was very disappointed with the decision but would comply.
“Our objective remains the same: we want to turn the page with a definitive agreement. We will take the French Competition Authority’s feedback into consideration and adapt our offers,” the US tech giant said.
A Google spokesperson added: “We have acted in good faith throughout the entire process. The fine ignores our efforts to reach an agreement, and the reality of how news works on our platforms.”
News publishers APIG, SEPM and AFP accuse the tech company of having failed to hold talks in good faith with them to find common ground for the remuneration of news content online, under a recent European Union directive that creates so-called “neighboring rights.”
The case itself focused on whether Google breached temporary orders issued by the antitrust authority, which demanded such talks take place within three months with any news publishers that ask for them.
“When the authority decrees an obligation for a company, it must comply scrupulously, both in the spirit and letter (of the decision). Here, this was unfortunately not the case,” the antitrust body’s chief, Isabelle de Silva, said in a statement. She also said the regulator considered that Google had not acted in good faith in its negotiations with the publishers.
APIG, which represents most major French print news publishers including Le Figaro and Le Monde, remains one of the plaintiffs, even though it signed a framework agreement with Google earlier this year, sources have told Reuters. This framework deal has been put on hold pending the antitrust decision, the sources said.
The framework agreement, which many other French media outlets criticized, was one of the highest-profile deals under Google’s “News Showcase” program to provide compensation for news snippets used in search results, and the first of its kind in Europe.
Google agreed to pay $76 million over three years to a group of 121 French news publishers to end the copyright row, documents seen by Reuters showed.
It followed months of bargaining between Google, French publishers and news agencies over how to apply the revamped EU copyright rules, which allow publishers to demand a fee from online platforms showing extracts of their news.
France fines Google 500 million euros over copyright row
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France fines Google 500 million euros over copyright row
- France fines Google 500 million euro fo failing to comply with the regulator over copyright issues.
- Google must comply with new rules or will risk getting additional fines of up to 900,000 euros per day.
WEF report spotlights real-world AI adoption across industries
DUBAI: A new report by the World Economic Forum, released Monday, highlights companies across more than 30 countries and 20 industries that are using artificial intelligence to deliver real-world impact.
Developed in partnership with Accenture, “Proof over Promise: Insights on Real-World AI Adoption from 2025 MINDS Organizations” draws on insights from two cohorts of MINDS (Meaningful, Intelligent, Novel, Deployable Solutions), a WEF initiative focused on AI solutions that have moved beyond pilot phases to deliver measurable performance gains.
As part of its AI Global Alliance, the WEF launched the MINDS program in 2025, announcing its first cohort that year and a second cohort this week. Cohorts are selected through an evaluation process led by the WEF’s Impact Council — an independent group of experts — with applications open to public- and private-sector organizations across industries.
The report found a widening gap between organizations that have successfully scaled AI and those still struggling, while underscoring how this divide can be bridged through real-world case studies.
Based on these case studies and interviews with selected MINDS organizations, the report identified five key insights distinguishing successful AI adopters from others.
It found that leading organizations are moving away from isolated, tactical uses of AI and instead embedding it as a strategic, enterprise-wide capability.
The second insight centers on people, with AI increasingly designed to complement human expertise through closer collaboration, rather than replace it.
The other insights focus on the systems needed to scale AI effectively, including strengthening data foundations and strategic data sources, as well as moving away from fragmented technologies toward unified AI platforms.
Lastly, the report underscores the need for responsible AI, with organizations strengthening governance, safeguards and human oversight as automated decision-making becomes more widespread.
Stephan Mergenthaler, managing director and chief technology officer at the WEF, said: “AI offers extraordinary potential, yet many organizations remain unsure about how to realize it.
“The selected use cases show what is possible when ambition is translated into operational transformation and our new report provides a practical guide to help others follow the path these leaders have set.”
Among the examples cited in the report is a pilot led by the Saudi Ministry of Health in partnership with AmplifAI, which used AI-enabled thermal imaging to support early detection of diabetic foot conditions.
The initiative reduced clinician time by up to 90 percent, cut treatment costs by as much as 80 percent, and delivered a 10 time increase in screening capacity. Following clinical trials, the solution has been approved by regulatory authorities in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain.
The report also points to work by Fujitsu, which deployed AI across its supply chain to improve inventory management. The rollout helped cut inventory-related costs by $15 million, reduce excess stock by $20 million and halve operational headcount.
In India, Tech Mahindra scaled multilingual large language models capable of handling 3.8 million monthly queries with 92 percent accuracy, enabling more inclusive access to digital services across markets in the Global South.
“Trusted, advanced AI can transform businesses, but it requires organizing data and processes to achieve the best of technology and — this is key — it also requires human ingenuity to maximize returns on AI investments,” said Manish Sharma, chief strategy and services officer at Accenture.
