Judge dismisses Google AI Overviews antitrust suits

US District Judge Amit Mehta dismissed antitrust lawsuits filed by Chegg and Penske Media Corporation, which accused Google of abusing its monopoly power through its AI Overviews feature. The plaintiffs argued that Google coerced them into providing content for free under threat of reduced search visibility, but the judge ruled that publishers have no contractual right to expect traffic. Mehta noted that while he is unsympathetic to the revenue losses faced by news outlets and educational sites, antitrust laws do not compel search engines to maintain specific traffic levels or compensate for the economic impact of new innovations. The ruling comes as Google reportedly begins a pilot program paying approximately 100 publishers for content contributions, signaling a shift from coercion to compensation in its AI data strategy.