UK regulators may force Google to open search engine to more competition as AI threat grows

British regulators said they may force Google to open its search engine to more competition — raising concerns that its budding use of artificial intelligence poses increasing threats to rivals and media companies alike.

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority said Tuesday could slap Google with “strategic market status” – a designation that would allow the watchdog agency to intervene. A final decision is expected by Oct. 13.

The agency said it has “heard concerns” during a probe into the situation, including “higher costs of search advertising than would be expected in a more competitive market” and “challenges” faced by publishers in securing fair compensation for their work. T

he CMA also signaled that it would examine potential harm caused by Google’s AI-related search products.

The CMA identified several potential changes that could be ordered – including requiring “choice screens” to allow users to easily access other search engines; barring Google from “self-preferencing” its own services in search results; and giving publishers more control over how their content appears.

“The CMA’s proposed [strategic market status] designation would include AI-based search features, though not Gemini AI Assistant itself,” the agency said in a statement.

As The Post has reported, Google has faced intense scrutiny in the US and abroad over its implementation of “AI Overviews” – which place AI-generated summaries at the top of search results while burying external links to other sites.

Google is also testing an “AI Mode” in search, which answers user prompts like an AI chatbot rather than a traditional search engine.

Google said the changes proposed by UK regulations “could have significant implications for businesses and customers” in the country.

“The CMA has today reiterated that ‘strategic market status’ does not imply that anti-competitive behavior has taken place — yet this announcement presents clear challenges to critical areas of our business in the UK,” said Oliver Bethell, Google’s senior director for competition.

“We’re concerned that the scope of the CMA’s considerations remains broad and unfocused, with a range of interventions being considered before any evidence has been provided.”

The move by UK regulators is yet another headache for Google, which has faced a crackdown in both the US and the European Union over its business practices.

US District Judge Amit Mehta will decide by August whether to break up Google’s online search empire after ruling last year that the company was a “monopolist.”

Google also lost a separate antitrust case targeting its monopoly over digital advertising technology. US District Judge Leonie Brinkema will consider potential remedies in a trial beginning later this year.