A coalition of independent publishers has filed an antitrust complaint with the European Commission regarding Google's AI-generated summary feature.

The filing alleges that Google "abuses web content in Google Search for AI summaries, causing and continuing to cause significant losses in traffic, readership, and revenue for publishers, particularly news organizations."

According to the complaint, publishers "have no opt-out option" from having their content used for AI summaries unless they choose to disappear entirely from Google search results.

Over a year has passed since Google began displaying AI-generated summaries at the top of some search results. While early responses were frequently inaccurate, the feature continues expanding, reportedly leading to sharp declines in news publisher traffic.

Google told Reuters, "The new AI-powered search experience enables users to ask more questions, creating new opportunities for content and businesses to be discovered." The company also claims traffic data assertions often rely on incomplete information and "websites can gain or lose traffic for various reasons."