'This is about future of digital media': Rolling Stone and Variety owner takes Google to court over AI-generated summaries

Washington: The owner of Rolling Stone, Billboard and Variety has filed a landmark lawsuit against Google, marking the first time a major U.S. publisher has taken the tech giant to court over its use of AI-generated summaries that appear at the top of search results.

Penske Media Corporation, a family-owned media group led by Jay Penske, filed the case in a federal court in Washington, D.C. on Friday, accusing Google of using its journalism without permission through its “AI Overviews” feature — and of doing so in a way that undercuts traffic, advertising and subscription revenue. The move was first reported by Reuters.

“This is about the future of digital media,” Penske said in a statement. “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’s lawsuit alleges that Google now only includes publishers' websites in search results if it can also summarise their content using its artificial intelligence tools. Without this leverage, the company claims, Google would have to pay to license the material or use it in AI training datasets — something it has so far avoided.

The complaint also highlights Google's dominant position in the search market, referencing a U.S. federal court finding that the company controls nearly 90% of the domestic search engine share. Penske Media claims this dominance has allowed Google to impose one-sided terms that would not be possible in a competitive market.

According to the lawsuit, roughly 20% of all Google searches that previously directed users to Penske-owned sites now display AI-generated summaries instead, a proportion expected to grow. The company also reported that its affiliate revenue had dropped by more than a third from its peak by the end of 2024, correlating with the decline in search-driven traffic.

In response, Google defended its AI Overviews, which were rolled out more broadly earlier this year. “With AI Overviews, people find Search more helpful and use it more, creating new opportunities for content to be discovered. We will defend against these meritless claims,” said Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda in a statement on Saturday.

The legal action follows similar concerns raised by other publishers. In February, online education platform Chegg also sued Google, alleging that the AI-generated responses were reducing the need for original content and weakening publishers’ ability to compete fairly.

Critics argue that Google’s market power enables it to bypass licensing agreements being pursued by other AI firms. Danielle Coffey, CEO of the News/Media Alliance, which represents over 2,200 U.S. publishers, told Reuters that Google’s dominance means it is not “obligated to abide by the same norms”.

"All of the elements being negotiated with every other AI company doesn't apply to Google because they have the market power to not engage in those healthy practices," Coffey said. She pointed to recent deals made between publishers and other AI firms, such as OpenAI’s agreements with News Corp, The Atlantic, and the Financial Times — partnerships Google has been slower to establish.

Earlier this month, Google secured a rare antitrust victory when a U.S. judge ruled the company would not be required to divest its Chrome browser as part of broader competition measures in the search space — a result that disappointed many publishers.

The case now filed by Penske Media could mark a turning point in the increasingly tense relationship between AI developers and news organisations, many of whom argue that large tech platforms are extracting value from their content without fair compensation.