The publisher of Rolling Stone and The Hollywood Reporter has filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google, accusing the search giant of unlawfully using its journalism to power artificial-intelligence features that divert readers away from its sites.
Penske Media Corp. filed the complaint late Friday in federal court in Washington, D.C., becoming the first major U.S. publisher to challenge Google and its parent company, Alphabet Inc., over AI-generated summaries that appear atop search results.
The lawsuit comes as regulators and courts continue to scrutinize Google’s dominance in search. Last year, a federal judge ruled Google held an illegal monopoly in the market, though earlier this month the judge imposed lighter remedies than the Justice Department had sought, citing heightened competition from emerging AI platforms.
Traffic and Revenue Concerns
Penske said Google’s AI overviews are reducing user clicks to its websites by providing sufficient information directly in search results. About 20% of Google queries linking to Penske properties now include AI summaries, a share the company says is rising.
The publisher added that revenue from affiliate links on its websites has fallen by more than one-third since late 2024, a decline it attributes to reduced referral traffic. Penske’s complaint warns that “siphoning and discouraging user traffic” will harm both its business and the broader availability of quality information online.
“With every article it publishes on its websites, PMC is forced to provide Google with more training and grounding material for its [AI] systems to generate AI Overviews or refine its models, adding fuel to a fire that threatens PMC’s entire publishing business,” the lawsuit states.
Thirteen Penske-owned publications are listed as plaintiffs, including Billboard, Variety and Vibe. Penske is also the largest shareholder of Vox Media, publisher of New York magazine, which is not part of the case.
Google’s Response
Google said its AI features support publishers rather than harm them.
“With AI Overviews, people find search more helpful and use it more, creating new opportunities for content to be discovered,” said Google spokesman José Castañeda. “Every day, Google sends billions of clicks to sites across the web, and AI Overviews send traffic to a greater diversity of sites. We will defend against these meritless claims.”
Castañeda added that clicks from AI overviews are often “higher quality,” with users spending more time on the sites they visit.
Broader Disputes Over AI Use
The lawsuit adds to a wave of legal actions from publishers and content creators challenging AI firms’ use of copyrighted material. The New York Times is suing OpenAI and Microsoft, while The Wall Street Journal and New York Post have filed a suit against AI startup Perplexity.
Separately, Anthropic agreed to pay at least $1.5 billion earlier this year to settle claims from authors alleging their books were used without authorization to train AI systems. Some companies have moved to secure licensing agreements: News Corp struck a deal with OpenAI, and Amazon has reached terms with the New York Times. Google has not announced similar arrangements.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified monetary damages and a permanent injunction to block Google from what Penske calls unlawful conduct.
