Rolling Stone publisher sues Google over AI summaries
Penske Media, the owner of Rolling Stone, Billboard and Variety, has filed a lawsuit against Google, accusing the tech giant of using its journalism without permission in AI-generated search summaries that divert traffic from its websites.
The case, lodged in federal court in Washington, D.C., marks the first major legal challenge by a US publisher against Alphabet-owned Google over its “AI Overviews” feature. News outlets have complained for months that the new summaries reduce referrals, cutting into both advertising and subscription income.
Penske, a family-run media group led by Jay Penske and reaching an estimated 120 million monthly visitors online, alleged that Google only lists publishers’ content in search results if it is allowed to repurpose their material for AI outputs. The company argued that without this leverage, Google would need to pay publishers for reusing their work or for training its AI models.
The lawsuit cited Google’s dominance in search, referencing a federal court ruling last year that the company controls nearly 90% of the US market.
“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 said.
The complaint also claimed that AI Overviews now appear on about 20% of search queries linking to Penske’s sites — a share expected to rise — and that affiliate revenue has dropped by over a third since peaking in late 2024.
Google, responding on Saturday, rejected the claims.
“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 spokesperson Jose Castaneda.
Penske is not the first company to raise concerns. Online education provider Chegg sued Google earlier this year, alleging its AI outputs were undercutting demand for original content.
The dispute comes as publishers weigh licensing agreements with AI firms. While OpenAI has struck content deals with organisations such as News Corp, Financial Times and The Atlantic, Google has moved more slowly, despite operating its own Gemini chatbot.
Danielle Coffey, head of the News/Media Alliance, a trade body representing more than 2,200 US publishers, criticised Google’s approach.
“When you have the massive scale and market power that Google has, you are not obligated to abide by the same norms. That is the problem.”
The alliance has warned that publishers cannot currently opt out of Google’s AI Overviews, leaving them at a disadvantage compared with negotiations taking place with other AI platforms.
Reuters
