A 10-Billion Euro Warning Shot: EU AI Act Investigation 2026 Begins

Is the era of AI secrecy finally over? The European Commission officially launched its first major probe under the EU AI Act on January 5, 2026. This landmark move targets foundational models developed by tech giants, investigating whether they've bypassed mandatory transparency requirements.

EU AI Act Investigation 2026: The Transparency Test

According to Reuters, the newly established EU AI Office suspects that several general-purpose AI (GPAI) developers haven't provided sufficient summaries of their training data. Under the law, companies must prove they respect EU copyright laws and disclose the datasets used to train their massive models. The probe focuses on whether these omissions pose a systemic risk to public safety.

The financial stakes are enormous. Non-compliance could lead to fines up to 7% of a company's total global turnover or 35 million euros, whichever is higher. For some of the world's largest companies, this figure could easily exceed 10 billion euros, marking it as one of the most significant regulatory actions in tech history.

Innovation vs. Safety: The Global Debate

While regulators emphasize accountability, the industry hasn't stayed silent. Sources suggest that firms like OpenAI and Google argue that overly stringent disclosure rules could stifle innovation and expose trade secrets. They claim they've already implemented robust safety protocols, but the EU insists that trust requires verifiable transparency.