The European Commission did not announce a fine against Microsoft in May 2024. It issued Bing a legally binding request for information about risks linked to generative AI, warning that failure to answer—or giving incorrect, incomplete or misleading information—could bring a procedural fine. The Commission’s public enforcement listing, checked against its entries through August 18, 2026, shows later information requests but no publicly recorded final fine in this matter.
What the European Commission asked Microsoft to provide
On May 17, 2024, the Commission ordered Microsoft to provide additional internal documents and data about generative-AI risks associated with Copilot in Bing and Image Creator by Designer. It said some requested information had not been disclosed in Bing’s earlier response. The public announcement did not itemize every document, dataset, test or methodology sought, so the precise scope beyond that description is not established in the release.
The deadline was May 27, 2024. The Commission described the order as a request for information under the Digital Services Act (DSA), an investigative step intended to help it assess compliance—not a finding that Microsoft had deliberately concealed risks or had already violated the law. The Commission’s May 17 announcement says such a request does not prejudge further action.
Which AI risks were under scrutiny?
The Commission focused on potential systemic risks connected with generative AI, including the June 2024 European Parliament elections and broader civic discourse.
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- Hallucinations: AI-generated responses that are fabricated, false or materially misleading.
- Deepfakes: The rapid or viral spread of synthetic images and other manipulated media.
- Voter and civic manipulation: Automated manipulation that could mislead voters or distort electoral processes and public discussion.
These were risks the Commission said it wanted to examine; its request did not establish that Bing had in fact misled voters or caused those harms.
Why the DSA applies to Bing
The Commission designated Bing a Very Large Online Search Engine (VLOSE) on April 25, 2023. Designated services face enhanced DSA duties, including assessing and mitigating systemic risks. The Commission’s request referred particularly to Articles 34 and 35, which concern those risk-assessment and risk-mitigation obligations.
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For the investigation, Article 67(3) provides a route for the Commission to require further information by decision in connection with suspected infringements. Article 66 is relevant to the possibility of opening formal proceedings. Neither the information request nor a suspicion of non-compliance is itself a final liability decision.
Microsoft’s EU DSA information page reports about 155 million average monthly active users for Bing in the EU over the six-month period ending December 31, 2025. The Commission’s supervision listing displays 119 million. These are figures from different reporting sources and bases; they should not be treated as directly comparable without matching their measurement periods and methods. Microsoft’s EU DSA information and the Commission’s designated-services listing provide the respective figures.
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What the possible fine meant—and what it did not mean
The May 2024 warning concerned compliance with the information request. The Commission said it could fine Microsoft up to 1% of total annual income or worldwide turnover for failing to respond, and could impose periodic penalties of up to 5% of average daily income or worldwide annual turnover. It also described a fine of up to 1% for providing incorrect, incomplete or misleading information.
Those figures are not a fine already imposed, nor a determination that Microsoft breached the DSA’s substantive risk rules. They are distinct from the DSA’s broader maximum of up to 6% of worldwide annual turnover for certain confirmed infringements by designated very large services. The Commission’s DSA overview describes that broader ceiling. The Commission framed the Bing request under the DSA, not the AI Act; the two laws’ penalty regimes should not be conflated.
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What happened after the May 2024 warning?
The Commission’s public listing shows a sequence of Bing information requests: January 18, March 14 and May 17, 2024, followed by another dated September 23, 2025. The first two preceded the May order, which sought additional material concerning generative-AI risks.
As of August 18, 2026, the Commission listing reviewed for this article does not record a final fine against Bing in this matter. It also does not, by itself, establish that the case was closed or that the Commission accepted Microsoft’s responses. The public record cited here leaves unresolved whether formal proceedings were opened, whether the Commission reached a later decision not shown in that listing, and how it assessed Microsoft’s full responses.
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- Work at the speed of your ideas – Built with the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Elite (12 Core) processors, Surface Laptop delivers fast, AI‑accelerated performance—making it the most powerful Surface laptop for everything from multitasking to demanding workloads.
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Microsoft’s account of Bing’s AI features
Microsoft’s DSA reporting says Bing search and its generative-AI features do not generally fit the DSA concept of content moderation in the same way as platforms hosting content posted by users: prompts and Bing outputs are not generally recipient-posted content hosted by Bing. The company nevertheless describes how Bing’s systems work and what safeguards it applies. Its later reporting uses names such as Copilot Search and Image Creator in Bing, reflecting product changes since the 2024 Commission announcement named Copilot in Bing and Image Creator by Designer.
Microsoft also reports restrictions on access to Image Creator when users attempt to bypass safety systems. That account is relevant context, not an independent finding by the Commission that the safeguards are sufficient. The regulatory question is not limited to whether a service removes user posts; it includes whether a designated service adequately assesses and mitigates systemic risks arising from search, AI-generated answers, synthetic media and election-related manipulation. See Microsoft’s Bing EU DSA report.
Why the distinction matters for AI-powered search
A request for information is a procedural step; a failure to answer can bring its own consequences; a substantive breach requires a separate assessment of the service’s legal duties; and a final penalty requires further enforcement steps. Keeping those stages distinct matters for Microsoft users, investors and compliance teams alike: the May 2024 announcement signaled regulatory scrutiny of AI-related risks, not a completed finding of wrongdoing.
The case also raises a broader question for AI-powered search: whether existing platform-risk rules can address harms from generated answers and synthetic media even when the service is not simply hosting user posts. The Commission’s stated focus on hallucinations, deepfakes and voter manipulation makes that question concrete, while the public listing does not yet provide a final outcome for this Bing matter.
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