The lawsuit claims the feature is in violation of US antitrust laws and unfairly competes ‘for the attention of users on the Internet.’
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Google’s AI Summaries have already stirred up major opposition from the publishing industry since rolling out in May 2024, with trade groups claiming the service is making a serious dent in both their clicks and revenue. Now, Penske Media (PMC), the company behind brands like Rolling Stone, Billboard, Variety, and The Hollywood Reporter, is suing Google.
The lawsuit, filed in a federal district court in Washington, D.C., accuses Google of “abusing its adjudicated monopoly in General Search Services to coerce online publishers like PMC to supply content that Google republishes without permission in AI-generated answers.” The suit says the feature violates US antitrust laws and unfairly competes “for the attention of users on the Internet.
