EU Slaps Google With Antitrust Complaint Over AI Overviews

Core Argument - A group of independent publishers has filed an EU antitrust complaint against Google regarding its use of AI Overviews, which are AI-generated results that appear at the top of Google searches and are trained on content from across the internet [1][2] Impact on Publishers - The complaint states that Google's AI Overviews misuse web content, causing significant harm to publishers, including loss of traffic, readership, and revenue [2] - Publishers are unable to opt out of their content being used for AI training without losing visibility in Google Search [2] - Publisher traffic has seen drastic declines, with some major sites experiencing drops of 27-59% according to Similarweb estimates [5] Industry Response - In response to declining traffic, many publishers, including CNN and The Verge, are implementing paywalls and seeking direct connections with readers, moving towards a "Google Zero" future [5][6] - The publishing industry is actively filing lawsuits against AI companies like OpenAI and Microsoft for using copyrighted material to train their models [6][7] - The publishing sector has faced significant challenges, leading to layoffs and closures, with 2,900 local newspapers shutting down in the US since 2005 [8]