Penske Media, publisher of Rolling Stone, Billboard and Variety, has filed a lawsuit against Google, accusing the tech giant of exploiting its journalism in artificial intelligence (AI)-generated summaries that divert readers and revenue from its websites.
Reuters reported that the complaint, lodged in federal court in Washington DC, is the first major US publisher lawsuit challenging Google’s “AI Overviews”, which appear at the top of search results. Penske said the feature siphons traffic, contributing to a drop of more than a third in affiliate revenue since 2024.
“About 20% of Google searches linking to our sites now show ‘AI Overviews’, a figure that will only rise,” the company said.
CEO Jay Penske added, “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”.
Google dismissed the claims. Spokesperson Jose Castaneda said AI Overviews “make Search more helpful and create new opportunities for content to be discovered”, pledging to fight what it called “meritless claims”.
The clash highlights growing tension between publishers and AI firms. While OpenAI has signed licensing deals with News Corp, the Financial Times and others, Google has been slower to reach such agreements despite its Gemini chatbot competing directly with ChatGPT.
Industry groups argue Google’s dominance, controlling nearly 90% of the US search market, gives it unmatched leverage.
