Penske, the proprietor of Rolling Stone and Billboard,files lawsuit against Google for inaccurate AI summaries
In a landmark move, Penske Media, the owner of Rolling Stone, Billboard, and Variety, has filed a lawsuit against Google in federal court in Washington, D.C. The lawsuit alleges that Google's AI-generated overviews are using Penske Media's journalism without consent and reducing traffic to its websites.
This is the first time a major U.S. publisher has taken Alphabet-owned Google to court over AI-generated summaries. The News/Media Alliance, representing over 2,200 U.S.-based publishers, has also criticized Google for not abiding by the same norms as other AI companies due to its market power.
According to the lawsuit, Google's AI overviews are siphoning traffic away from news organizations' sites, a claim that has been made by news organizations for months. The company's near 90% share of the U.S. search market, as found by a federal court last year, enables it to impose such terms.
Penske Media alleges that about 20% of Google searches that link to its sites now show AI Overviews, a share it expects to rise. The company claims that its affiliate revenue has fallen by more than a third from its peak by the end of 2024 as search traffic declined.
Google, however, has defended its AI overviews, stating that they offer a better experience to users and send traffic to a wider variety of websites. In response to Penske's lawsuit, Google stated that the AI overviews are more helpful and used more frequently. The company also noted that it has signed fewer AI licensing deals compared to firms like OpenAI, but has been slower in this regard.
Online education company Chegg also sued Google in February, alleging that the search giant's AI-generated overviews were eroding demand for original content and undermining publishers' ability to compete.
The reporting for this article was done by Soni, with additional reporting by Rhea Rose Abraham and Nilutpal Timsina in Bengaluru. The editing was done by Shri Navaratnam.
Notably, Google's Gemini chatbot competes with ChatGPT, made by OpenAI, the AI manufacturer with whom Penske Media has so far conducted license negotiations. The lawsuit comes at a time when Google is under increasing scrutiny for its market power and its impact on the publishing industry.
A judge recently ruled that Google does not have to sell its Chrome browser as part of efforts to open up competition in search. This decision disappointed some publishers and industry bodies, including the News/Media Alliance. The lawsuit against Google is a significant step in the ongoing debate about the balance of power between tech giants and traditional media.
