The parent company of Rolling Stone and The Hollywood Reporter has filed a federal lawsuit against Google, accusing the tech giant of siphoning off its content through the controversial “AI Overviews” search feature. Filed in Washington, D.C., the lawsuit from Penske Media alleges that Google’s AI-driven summaries are “ripping off articles without permission” while causing “millions of dollars of harm” to publishers by diverting readers away from their websites. The complaint claims Google forces publishers to allow their work to train its AI systems if they want their links to appear in search results.

According to Penske, the system robs publishers of revenue they would otherwise gain from licensing deals or advertising tied to web traffic. The company says about 20% of Google search queries now feature AI-generated summaries above traditional links, cutting into referrals for outlets like Variety, Deadline, and others in its portfolio. Penske’s lawsuit argues that the practice “threatens to leave the public with an increasingly unrecognizable Internet,” where users are served synthetic, often inaccurate answers rather than reliable journalism. Critics of the feature point to high-profile AI “hallucinations,” including a false claim that rapper Eminem performed at the funeral of Jeff Bezos’s mother.

Penske is seeking damages as well as a permanent injunction to block Google from continuing what it describes as “illegal conduct.” The lawsuit adds to growing pushback from publishers who say AI tools are hollowing out the digital information ecosystem while eroding the financial backbone of the news business. Google, however, has rejected the claims, with spokesperson Jose Castaneda stating that “AI Overviews drives more traffic, not less,” and pledging to defend against what the company calls “meritless claims.”