A French press association has asked France's competition regulator to intervene over Google's AI-generated news summaries. The group says Google uses publishers' content without separate permission or payment, and that the feature is reducing traffic to news websites[reference:95].
The complaint from the Association of General Information Press Publishers (APIG) concerns Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode, which provide AI-generated answers directly on its search service[reference:96]. APIG represents French newspapers and magazines and says Google introduced these uses of news content without negotiating with publishers[reference:97].
Traffic decline
The French communications regulator Arcom estimates that the features have led to a 33% to 38% decline in traffic to publishers' websites, according to APIG[reference:98]. Separate research has also pointed to fewer clicks from searches that display AI-generated answers. A study that analysed 300,000 keywords and aggregated Google Search Console data found that the click-through rate for the top-ranking result fell for searches with AI Overviews in December 2025 compared with December 2023[reference:99].
"The unilateral deployment of new uses of press content, without prior authorisation or dedicated remuneration, disregards these commitments," the association said[reference:100].
Background
APIG wants the competition authority to take an approach similar to its recent decision involving Meta. The regulator ordered Meta to submit a payment proposal and restart talks with French media groups seeking unpaid fees for continued content use. The authority said Meta likely abused its dominant position[reference:101].
Both disputes concern the EU's 2019 Copyright Directive, which allows press publishers to seek payment when digital platforms reuse their content[reference:102]. Google has already faced enforcement over these rules in France. In 2021, the competition authority fined Google €500 million. The fine followed Google's failure to comply with orders requiring good-faith negotiations with publishers. In June 2022, Google accepted commitments to negotiate payments with eligible publishers and news agencies. Google had agreements covering more than 150 French publications at the time[reference:103].
APIG now argues that Google's use of press material for AI-generated search responses falls within the broader commitments arising from that dispute[reference:104].
"The fact that AI is built upon media content means one single thing: this information has considerable value," APIG president said. Publishers want that value to be shared, he added[reference:105].
Global context
The French dispute comes as governments explore ways to address the bargaining imbalance between digital platforms and publishers. Australia, for example, proposed in April 2026 to charge qualifying large platforms 2.25% of their Australian-linked revenue. They could avoid the charge by entering payment agreements with news organisations[reference:106]. Unlike the French dispute, however, Australia's proposed framework does not directly cover services primarily powered by large language models[reference:107].