EU tells Microsoft to provide information on GenAI risks in Bing search else face fine

LONDON — The European Commission on Friday directed Microsoft to provide more information about the generative AI (GenAI) features in its search engine Bing else face fine, as the tech giant failed to respond to a March 14 request for inputs regarding specific risks stemming from Bing’s GenAI features.

The Commission stepped up its enforcement actions against Microsoft and the company now has time till May 27 to provide the requested information to the Commission on Bing’s generative AI features, notably “Copilot in Bing” and “Image Creator by Designer”.

If Bing fails to reply within the deadline, the Commission may impose fines up to 1 per cent of the provider’s total annual income or global turnover and periodic penalties up to 5 per cent of the provider’s average daily income or worldwide annual turnover.

The regulator can also impose fines up to 1 per cent of the provider’s total annual income or worldwide turnover for incorrect, incomplete, or misleading information in response to a request for information.

“Following its designation as ‘Very Large Online Search Engine’, Bing is required to comply with the full set of provisions introduced by the Digital Services Act (DSA),” said the Commission.

Microsoft was yet to react to the “legally binding request for information,”.