Is Google’s New AI Mode Feature Overstepping Boundaries?

Google’s newest AI-driven functionality is facing significant backlash from the News/Media Alliance, a consortium representing news entities across the U.S. and Canada. The organization is alleging that the tech behemoth is essentially appropriating content through its newly introduced AI Mode in Google Search.

Revealed at Google’s recent I/O event, AI Mode signifies a pivotal change in user interaction with Search. Users are no longer led to a collection of links; instead, they can engage with a chatbot-like interface—reminiscent of ChatGPT—that provides AI-generated summaries and responses straight on the search page.

Although this could be a handy resource for users, the News/Media Alliance contends it comes at a great cost to publishers. In a press release, the group stated that the feature “further deprives publishers of original content both traffic and revenue,” as users are less inclined to visit the original sources.

“Links were the last redeeming quality of search that granted publishers traffic and revenue,” remarked Danielle Coffey, President and CEO of the News/Media Alliance. “Now Google simply seizes content without compensation—the very definition of theft. The DOJ remedies must address this to avert continued control of the internet by a single company.”

This isn’t the first occasion the News/Media Alliance has sounded the alarm about AI’s appropriation of journalistic content. In April, the group initiated a campaign titled “Support Responsible AI,” endorsed by prominent outlets like The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Guardian. The campaign’s message was unmistakable: “Stop AI Theft.”

One of the advertisements bluntly declared, “Stealing is un-American. Urge Washington to make Big Tech accountable for the content it appropriates.”

In the meantime, both Google and OpenAI have been advocating to the U.S. government for permission to train AI models on copyrighted materials under fair use exceptions—an endeavor that has only escalated the discourse surrounding intellectual property and the future of digital journalism.

As AI continues to transform how information is accessed and consumed, the struggle between tech giants and content creators is far from concluded.