United KingdomCMA Publisher Conduct Requirement on Google's general search services
Publisher Conduct Requirement imposed on Google by the Competition and Markets Authority under section 19(1) of the Digital Markets Competition and Consumers Act 2024, Notice of
An AI training data rule binding private bodies.
As of .
What it requires
- This requirement is imposed on Google, the firm the Competition and Markets Authority designated as having strategic market status in general search, and on no other operator; it applies to the outputs of generative AI services and features shown to people located in the UK.
- Provide publishers with effective controls to withhold their search content from being used in generative AI services and features, covering the training and grounding of Google's broader generative AI services and of its search generative AI features.NIST AI RMFMAP 4.1
- Make the controls for the grounding of search generative AI features available at directory level and at page level.NIST AI RMFMAP 4.1
- Do not circumvent a publisher's choice to withhold its search content by acquiring that content through other sources, and do not prevent publishers from, or penalise them for, using the controls.NIST AI RMFMAP 4.1
- Publish clear, comprehensible and user-friendly information on how search content is used for the training and grounding of generative AI services and features, and on the effect and scope of the controls.NIST AI RMFMEASURE 2.8
- Provide publishers with clear and detailed metrics on user engagement with their search content where it is used in search generative AI features.no control in the NIST AI RMF
- Take reasonable steps to ensure that search content in search generative AI features is attributed clearly and accurately, with end users given a clear means to access it, and publish an explanation of the steps taken.NIST AI RMFMAP 4.1
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text, as of .
In the frameworks
- NIST AI RMF
- MAP 4.1Approaches for mapping AI technology and legal risks of its components – including the use of third-party data or software – are in place, followed, and documented, as are risks of infringement of a third party’s intellectual property or other rights.
- MEASURE 2.8Risks associated with transparency and accountability – as identified in the MAP function – are examined and documented.
Our reading of where this law's duties sit in each framework, and in the NIST AI RMF, line by line beside each duty above. It never says that running a control meets the law. How we read a framework against the law
What this law does
The Competition and Markets Authority gave notice under section 19(1) of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 that it was imposing a conduct requirement, the Publisher Conduct Requirement, on Google relating to its general search services. The Notice is dated . Google must provide publishers with effective controls to withhold their Search Content from being used in generative AI services and features.
Those controls must cover the training and grounding of Google's broader generative AI services and of its search generative AI features. For the grounding of search generative AI features, the controls must let publishers withhold their Search Content at directory level and at page level. Google must not attempt to circumvent a publisher's choice to withhold its Search Content by acquiring that Search Content through other sources.
Google must publish Explanatory Information on how Search Content is used for the training and grounding of its generative AI services and features, and on the effect and scope of the controls. Google must provide publishers with clear and detailed metrics on user engagement with their Search Content where it is used in its search generative AI features.
Google must take reasonable steps to ensure that Search Content in search generative AI features is attributed clearly and accurately, and that end users are provided with a clear means to access that Search Content. Google must not seek to prevent publishers from, or penalise them for, using the controls, for example by downranking their Search Content.
The obligations apply in relation to the outputs of all generative AI services and features shown to any natural or legal persons located in the UK. The Publisher Conduct Requirement comes into force six months after the date of the Notice, with the exception of paragraph 4.b, which comes into force nine months after the date of the Notice.
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