Japan Fair Trade Commission to Launch Investigation into Use of News Articles by AI-Powered Search Engines

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:38 JST, December 23, 2025

The Japan Fair Trade Commission plans to conduct a fact-finding investigation into search engines that utilize generative AI, according to sources.

The commission believes that some practices of major tech companies, including AI’s use of media organizations’ news articles without permission, may constitute an abuse of a dominant position and other violations under the Antimonopoly Law.

The investigation will target providers of AI-powered search engines, including U.S.-based companies Google LLC, Microsoft Corp. and startup Perplexity AI Inc., as well as Japan’s LY Corp. It may also cover other companies, such as U.S.-based OpenAI, which provides the AI chatbot service ChatGPT.

AI-powered search engines can understand questions asked in a conversational tone and respond to them. The AI generates summarized answers from data collected through the internet. The technology is regarded as more convenient than traditional search engines because it provides more direct answers.

However, tech companies’ unauthorized use of articles from news organizations and other sources in the responses has become a problem. News agencies generate revenue by displaying ads on their sites, so the spread of AI-generated news summaries could lead to a decline in that income.

In 2023, the JFTC released a report on a fact-finding investigation into news media. The commission pointed out that if major tech companies use the articles while paying nothing or significantly low fees, it may constitute an abuse of a dominant position and violate the Antimonopoly Law.

AI-powered search engines are also facing heavy scrutiny in Europe. The European Commission — the executive body of the European Union — has begun investigating Google over alleged violations of EU competition law.