- Big Tech fined $3.5 billion over three years, according to Surfshark
- Many were fined for illegally using personal data
- Applicability remains a key challenge
Major technology companies have already been hit with fines totaling $3.5 billion for using large amounts of personal user data to train their AI models, raising hopes that the days of AI operating in a regulatory vacuum could be coming to an end.
The figures come from Surfshark, one of the best VPNs on the market, which recently analyzed 10 AI-related sanctions imposed on the usual suspects (Anthropic, Meta, Google, Clearview, Apple, Amazon and OpenAI) between 2022 and 2026.
Worryingly, nine out of ten fines were imposed for using users’ personal data (including biometric data, copyrighted content, facial images and voice recordings of children) without user consent or legal authorization.
AI breaches: Which company misused our data the most?
According to the Surfshark study, Clear view of AI was the first, in 2022, to be fined a total of around $46 million for collecting facial images for its facial recognition database.
But the pace accelerated in 2024, with five separate new fines imposed on Google, Open AI, Goal, clear viewand Amazon.
The amount of fines has also increased substantially, indicating a positive shift from regulatory warnings to serious financial consequences. In 2024, Goal was fined $1.4 billion for collecting biometric data from users without consent, followed by anthropic in 2025 with a record $1.5 billion to train their AI models using pirated books.
On the other hand, the fine of 250 million dollars imposed on Apple In 2026, deceptive AI marketing practices could indicate that current AI advertising tactics could soon become a thing of the past as well.
“This could be just the beginning,” says Dr. Luis Costa, research leader at Surfshark. “The overall trend suggests that liability is catching up with innovation, and the industry must reevaluate how it builds AI and how it goes to market.”
The industry must reevaluate how it builds AI and how it markets it
Dr. Luis Costa, Surfshark
While regulations and authorities appear to be beginning to catch up and match their punishments with Big Tech’s misdeeds, the findings continue to raise serious questions about the risks users face when using these AI platforms.
“Firstly, the scale of unauthorized data collection is unprecedented: 90 percent of AI-related fines imposed since 2022 are related to the use of data without the necessary consent,” explains Costa.
“Second, this collection often targets highly sensitive and unchangeable data, as seen in Meta’s $1.4 billion biometric settlement and Amazon’s fine for children’s voice recordings,” he adds.
It also remains alarming that many companies do not adequately inform the public about how their sensitive data is used, leaving consumers oblivious to the fact that their personal information is permanently embedded in AI business models.
Better applicability is needed
Furthermore, while these fines may seem exorbitant, it is concerning that the financial impact of such punishments rarely acts as a deterrent to these large technology companies, whose market capitalization runs into hundreds of billions of dollars.
In its research, Proton previously found that the $7.8 billion in privacy and competition fines imposed on big tech companies in 2025 could be paid collectively by these companies in less than a month.
However, Costa maintains that the issue is more complex and that regulators could be working to achieve specific changes. “First, regulators are escalating financial risks, moving toward massive sanctions like the $1.5 billion Anthropic and $1.4 billion Meta deals.”
Additionally, a major challenge at the moment is enforceability, particularly as some companies have already been exploiting loopholes to avoid paying fines. Clearview AI, for example, managed to avoid paying $105 million in fines imposed by four different European regulatory authorities by arguing that it was not within European jurisdiction.
“Even if these first fines are manageable for the tech giants, their real value lies in establishing firm legal precedents that will govern how AI should operate in the future,” Costa concludes.
