Publishers accuse Google of unfair AI use, seek regulator to intervene
French publishers take aim at Google over the company’s AI news summaries.
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- The General Information Press Alliance asked France's competition authority to act against Google's AI-generated article summaries.
- Regulator Arcom estimates Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode cause a 33% to 38% traffic loss for French news publishers.
- Google was previously fined €500 million in France for failing to negotiate fair payment with publishers for using their content.
- Publishers say they aren't against AI innovation but demand fair remuneration for their content as required by French law.
Key Takeaways by nexos.ai, reviewed by Cybernews staff.
The General Information Press Alliance has contacted France’s competition authority to spring into action against Google’s AI-generated article summaries.
In an attempt to share more of its revenue with news outlets, Google was sanctioned for unfair business practices and required the company to negotiate in good faith with publishers over authorization and remuneration in April 2020.
In other words, Google was ordered to pay for using articles from French online publishers on its platforms, including Google Search.
A few years later, in June 2022, Google dropped its appeal against France’s competition authority, which had issued a €500 million fine following a copyright dispute over its failure to comply with these obligations.
“We will continue to work on securing more agreements with eligible French publishers and news agencies to further support journalism in France, building on many years of investment,” Sebastien Missoffe, Country Manager and Vice President for Google France, said at the time.
However, ever since Google deployed its AI Overviews feature and AI Mode in Google Search, the company has deprived online newspapers and magazines of even more readers. Google’s AI-generated article summaries have made things even worse.
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“The unilateral deployment of new uses of press content, without prior authorization or dedicated remuneration, ignores these commitments,” the General Information Press Alliance claims.
The Audiovisual and Digital Communication Regulatory Authority (Arcom), France’s independent regulator for audiovisual and digital communication, estimates that the loss of traffic attributable to these features is between 33% and 38%.
“That artificial intelligence is built on press content says one simple thing: this information has considerable value,” Marc Feuillée, President of the General Information Press Alliance, says in a statement.
He’s calling on Arcom to take action against Google’s AI-generated article summaries.
“Publishers are not asking to stop innovation. They demand that this value be shared and that the use of their productions be remunerated, as required by law,” Feuillée adds.
As of writing, Google hasn’t responded to the General Information Press Alliance’s demands.
