If the Redmond business doesn’t reply by May 27, it may be fined up to 1% of its yearly revenue.

If Microsoft doesn’t reply to a request for information by May 27th, it might be fined up to 1% of its annual turnover in the European Union.

The request, which relates to the company’s Bing search engine and related generative artificial intelligence services, was submitted by the EU’s Digital Services Act.

The news was made public on May 17 through a post on X.com requiring Microsoft to “provide information under the Digital Services Act on generative AI risks on Bing.”

“Bing may present risks associated with generative AI, including automated service manipulation that could mislead voters, deep fakes, and so-called ‘hallucinations.'”

Follow us for more insightful articles:

The European Commission stated that the initial request was made on May 14 “concerned specific dangers emanating from Bing’s generative AI features, notably “Copilot in Bing” and “Image Creator by Designer,” in a blog post that was linked from the Commission’s official website and branded “Daily News.”

Microsoft “now has until 27 May to provide the requested information to the Commission,” the blog post continued.

This warning includes a reminder that should the E.U. ‘s request is not fulfilled by the deadline, the Commission “may impose fines up to 1% of the provider’s total annual income” in addition to “periodic penalties up to 5% of the provider’s average daily income.”

Even while a 1% revenue fine might not seem like much, it could cost Microsoft well over two billion dollars. Microsoft reported $211 billion in revenue for 2023; if the present market trend continues, the company may surpass that amount in 2024. Based on these figures, the Redmond corporation would have to pay a minimum of around $2.1 billion in fines.

It is important to note that these fines have not yet been assessed, and Microsoft has not yet been found in violation of any EU rules, at least not those that directly relate to this notice. Rather, it seems more like a polite public announcement that the corporation has been served and that it is requesting additional information, which may be detrimental if disregarded.

Microsoft was contacted by Cointelegraph for comment, but they did not respond right away.