Google Faces First Major U.S. Publisher Lawsuit Over AI Search

The company that owns Rolling Stone, Billboard, Variety, and other media outlets has filed a lawsuit against Google for using their news content to create AI-generated summaries without permission.

Penske Media Corporation (PMC) says Google’s “AI Overviews” are significantly reducing traffic to its websites and cutting into revenue.

“As a leading global publisher, we have a duty to protect PMC’s best-in-class journalists and award-winning journalism as a source of truth,” said CEO Jay Penske, as reported by Reuters.

“Furthermore, we have a responsibility to proactively fight for the future of digital media and preserve its integrity — all of which is threatened by Google’s current actions,” Penske added.

Recently Nicholas Thompson, CEO of The Atlantic, warned staff that Google traffic could eventually drop to zero, adding, “Google is shifting from being a search engine to an answer engine. We have to develop new strategies.”

The lawsuit claims Google forces publishers to let their content appear in AI summaries as a condition for search indexing, which results in no actual choice for these companies. Penske claims the feature has already caused affiliate revenue to drop by more than a third from its peak in 2024, as noted by TechCrunch.

Google Search remains the leading search platform in the United States, controlling more than 90% of the market. The company rejected the accusation made against it.

Spokesperson José Castañeda said AI Overviews make search “more helpful” and create “new opportunities for content to be discovered,” as reported by Reuters.

He added, “Every day, Google sends billions of clicks to sites across the web, and AI Overviews send traffic to a greater diversity of sites. We will defend against these meritless claims.”

Penske is the first major U.S. publisher to sue Google directly over AI Overviews, though others have raised similar complaints. The Verge notes that earlier this year, Chegg and several European publishers filed lawsuits, while U.S. outlets including The New York Times sued Microsoft and OpenAI over AI training practices.

Critics warn Google’s dominance leaves publishers little leverage. “That is the problem,” said Danielle Coffey, CEO of the News/Media Alliance, as reported by TechCrunch.

The lawsuit comes after the news that Google is testing a new “AI Mode” for its search engine, allowing users to communicate with a chatbot interface instead of using traditional search queries.

Publishers warn this change could worsen the damage already caused by Google’s AI Overviews, which have slashed traffic by more than 50% for outlets like HuffPost and Washington Post. Critics argue Google is turning into an “answer engine,” keeping users on its platform while starving publishers of clicks and revenue.

While Google says “blue links” will remain accessible under a Web tab, experts predict AI Mode will take over, threatening the long-term survival of online news outlets.