Mr. Ryan Meade:

I might briefly address the three important points the Deputy has made. The first point, which was on the impact on political discourse, goes a bit broader than AI but, to focus specifically on the AI aspect, we always say that we do not wait for regulation. It is important for our industry not to wait for regulation because, as the Deputy has said, the technology moves on. In many cases, the response required is not just a regulatory response, but a technological response. I will give an example. There is obviously concern around the use of synthetic media in elections, that is, deepfakes or whatever else. Google DeepMind, our AI research unit, has been developing a watermarking system for AI-generated content called SynthID. That is something we have been bringing to the market in advance of any regulation. It is really important for industry players to continue in that mode of not waiting for regulation and ensuring that, where a technological solution can help, it is brought to bear.

The Deputy's second point, which was on infrastructure, is really important. We have a pledge to run all of our offices and data centres on zero-carbon energy by 2030. With regard to data centres powering AI, we already have five data centres that use more than 90% carbon-free energy and we are continuing to engage in power purchase agreements. We now have one in Ireland that will bring our data centre in Ireland to more than 60% carbon-free energy next year. A lot of progress is being made in that area.

On the question of concentration, it is true that some of our companies have built a lot of infrastructure. We have data centres across the region. The important thing is that, through our Google Cloud products and services, this infrastructure is open for European players to engage with. There are already a lot of European challenger players who are taking advantage of Google Cloud or other companies' infrastructure to innovate and to take advantage of new generative AI tools. The Deputy is absolutely right to say that it is a concern expressed by policymakers but there is a good way forward and we can all work together to ensure that European players are successful.