The European Union is facing mounting criticism over what some experts describe as a pattern of heavy-handed regulation—first targeting its own automotive sector, and now turning its attention to the global tech industry a move the Australian Government is watching with interest.

After pushing aggressive electric vehicle mandates that forced major European carmakers such as Porsche, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi toward an all-electric future by 2030, a transition that has led to factory closures and layoffs, the EU is now advancing controversial proposals aimed at reshaping the digital economy.

At the center of the latest dispute is a plan by the European Commission to require companies like Google to share sensitive search engine data—including rankings, queries, clicks, and user interactions, rival firms such as OpenAI. Regulators argue the move is necessary to foster competition and curb Big Tech dominance under the Digital Markets Act (DMA). Critics, however, warn it could come at a steep cost: user privacy.

Sergei Vassilvitskii, a distinguished Google scientist and widely respected figure in artificial intelligence, is set to meet EU antitrust officials this week to challenge the proposal and push for stronger safeguards.

“The Commission’s approach to anonymisation fails to adequately protect Europeans’ privacy,” Vassilvitskii said in comments ahead of the meeting.

He pointed to internal testing by Google’s AI “red team,” which reportedly managed to re-identify anonymised users in under two hours—raising serious doubts about whether the proposed protections are sufficient in an era of increasingly powerful AI tools.

The European Commission has defended its broader regulatory push as essential to ensuring fair competition and giving smaller players room to grow. Over recent years, it has introduced sweeping legislation aimed at reining in the influence of major U.S. tech firms. While these measures have found support among some policymakers, they have also drawn criticism from Washington and industry leaders who argue they risk stifling innovation.

Google has responded forcefully, labeling the latest proposal “regulatory overreach” and warning it could undermine both user security and trust. The company says it is willing to cooperate with regulators but insists that any data-sharing framework must include robust, technically sound safeguards.

The stakes are high. Failure to comply with the EU’s final ruling, expected by July 27—could expose Google to fines of up to 10% of its global annual revenue.

As Brussels presses ahead, critics are increasingly questioning whether the bloc’s regulatory ambitions are outpacing the technological realities they aim to control, and whether, in the process, the EU risks repeating past missteps by reshaping entire industries without fully accounting for the consequences.