ifMicrosoftIf you do not respond to the request for information by May 27,European UnionFace a fine of up to THB 113 billion of their annual income.
The threat stems from a request made under the EU Digital Services Act regarding the company’s Bing search engine and its related generative artificial intelligence services.
On May 17, a post was published on X.com, forcing Microsoft to " Bing The news was disclosed to the public by "providing information about the risks of generative AI on the Internet".
In a linked blog entry on the European Commission's official website labeled "Daily News," the European Commission explains that the initial request was sent on May 14 "concerning specific risks arising from Bing's generative AI features, in particular "Copilot in Bing" and "Image Creator," which were designed by designers."
The blog post goes on to explain that Microsoft "now has until May 27 to provide the committee with the requested information."
The warning comes with a notice saying the Commission "may impose a fine of up to 1% of the provider's gross annual revenue" and "may impose a periodic fine of up to 5% of the provider's average daily revenue" if the EU requirements are not met by the deadline.
While a revenue penalty of 1% may not sound like a heavy blow, in Microsoft's case, the fine could be well over $2 billion. Its self-reported revenue for 2023 is $211 billion, and if current market trends hold steady, Microsoft could conceivably top that number in 2024. Going by those numbers, if fined, the Redmond company would have to pay at least around $2.1 billion.
It’s worth noting that these fines have not yet been levied, and as of now, Microsoft has not been found to have violated any EU laws — at least not those specifically related to this notification. Instead, this seems more like a courtesy notification to the public that the company has effectively received a request for further information, and that there will be consequences if it ignores it.