Google is facing a new lawsuit from Penske Media Corporation (PMC), the owner of Rolling Stone, Billboard, Variety, and other leading publications. The suit accuses Google of illegally using publisher content to power its AI-generated summaries, which PMC claims damages their business and undermines journalism.
Penske Media’s Claims
According to PMC, Google has used its dominant position in search to pressure publishers into allowing their content to be republished in AI Overviews. The company argues that this practice reduces traffic to publisher sites, hurting ad revenue, subscriptions, and affiliate earnings.
PMC CEO Jay Penske stated: “We have a duty to protect our award-winning journalism as a source of truth. Google’s current actions threaten both the future of digital media and the integrity of independent journalism.”
Google’s Response
A Google spokesperson, José Castañeda, defended the company’s practices, saying AI Overviews make search “more helpful” and that the feature “sends traffic to a greater diversity of sites.” Google maintains it continues to send billions of clicks to publishers each day.
Industry Context
The lawsuit is the first major legal challenge targeting Google specifically for AI-generated summaries, though other publishers and authors have already taken legal action against different AI companies. In addition, Google faces ongoing antitrust complaints in Europe over its AI Overviews product.
The case highlights growing tensions between tech platforms and publishers as artificial intelligence reshapes how online information is aggregated, presented, and monetized.