Judge dismisses Chegg and Penske antitrust lawsuits targeting Google AI search

A U.S. federal judge has dismissed the antitrust lawsuits filed by Chegg and Penske Media against Google, ruling that the company’s conduct does not violate antitrust law. The complaints, brought in 2025, alleged that Google harvested content from the plaintiffs’ sites to feed its AI‑generated summaries, thereby diverting traffic away from those platforms. Chegg, an online education provider, claimed that Google’s Gemini models reproduced its material and siphoned off visitors, while Penske, owner of titles such as Rolling Stone and Variety, argued that extracting its articles for AI responses without an opt‑out option was unfair. Judge Amit Mehta held that the expectation of receiving search traffic is not a contractual agreement and that the described practice falls within the normal operation of a search engine. Consequently, both lawsuits were dismissed.

This ruling is significant because it delineates the legal boundaries for data collection by search engines when creating AI‑driven content, affecting publishers and content creators who rely on organic traffic. The decision also signals that, for now, antitrust regulations will not apply to these practices, which could shape future regulatory approaches and the relationship between AI platforms and information providers.

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