The Alliance of General Information Press (APIG), representing French newspapers and magazines, has asked France’s competition regulator to intervene over Google’s AI-generated news summaries. APIG claims Google uses publishers’ content without permission or payment and that its AI Overviews and AI Mode features have caused a 33% to 38% drop in traffic to news websites, according to the French communications regulator Arcom, as reported by medianama.com.
Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode provide AI-generated answers directly in search results, which APIG says were introduced without negotiating with publishers. The complaint follows research by Ahrefs, which found a 58% decline in click-through rates for top-ranking results on searches displaying AI Overviews between December 2023 and December 2025. APIG argues that Google’s unilateral deployment disregards commitments to seek authorization and provide remuneration for press content use.
The issue highlights tensions between digital platforms and news publishers over content use and monetization amid the rise of AI in search services. France’s competition authority recently took action against Meta for similar concerns in July 2026, ordering changes to how the company uses news content. APIG is seeking a comparable regulatory response to ensure fair compensation and protect publishers’ traffic from being cannibalized by AI-generated summaries.
The French competition authority’s response to APIG’s complaint will be closely watched, given the regulator’s recent intervention against Meta in July 2026. The outcome could set a precedent for how AI-generated news content is treated under French competition and copyright laws.