Tags: digital publishing

Encyclopedia Britannica and its subsidiary Merriam-Webster have filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, accusing the company of massive copyright infringement for scraping nearly 100,000 of their online articles to train its large language models. The complaint alleges that ChatGPT reproduces Britannica content, reduces web traffic and revenue, and violates trademark law. The case joins a growing wave of legal actions by publishers against AI firms, highlighting unresolved questions about the legality of using copyrighted material for AI training. A prior Anthropic case showed mixed rulings, underscoring the uncertainty that will shape future AI‑content use. Read more

Encyclopedia Britannica and its subsidiary Merriam‑Webster have filed a copyright and trademark lawsuit against OpenAI in the Southern District of New York. The complaint alleges that OpenAI used thousands of the publishers’ articles as training data for ChatGPT and then generated responses that reproduce the content without permission, harming the publishers’ revenue and brand reputation. The case mirrors a prior suit against Perplexity and may be consolidated into a larger multidistrict litigation involving other news publishers. Read more

Google has begun serving AI‑crafted headlines in its Discover feed, a move the company describes as a feature that boosts user satisfaction. Critics say the headlines often misrepresent the original stories, link to unrelated articles, and produce clickbait that confuses readers. Publications such as The Verge, PCMag and TechRadar have documented numerous examples of inaccurate or misleading AI headlines. Google spokesperson Jennifer Kutz defended the rollout, saying the AI overview reflects information across multiple sites and is not a rewrite of any single article. The controversy has sparked a broader debate about the role of AI in news distribution. Read more

A recent study by Graphite, using Common Crawl data and AI‑detection tools, determined that more than half of newly published English‑language web articles are now written by artificial intelligence. While the volume of AI‑generated content has plateaued, most of it fails to rank well in Google search or appear in ChatGPT responses, indicating that human‑written pieces still dominate visibility. The findings highlight a shift in how publishers, marketers, and content farms produce material, as well as ongoing concerns about quality, SEO performance, and the future role of AI in online publishing. Read more

Website publishers, from news outlets to investment banks, are pushing back against Google’s AI Overviews, claiming the feature cuts click‑through traffic and affiliate revenue. Studies cited by publishers show click rates dropping from fifteen percent to eight percent, and revenue losses of more than a third. Google’s head of search disputes the findings, saying overall organic click volume remains stable. The dispute has escalated to a lawsuit by Penske Media Corporation, which owns The Hollywood Reporter and Rolling Stone, alleging significant financial harm from the AI summaries. Read more

Google has launched a new Preferred Sources option for Top Stories in its search results, currently available in the United States and India. The feature lets users choose which sites appear most frequently in the news carousel, helping them see more content from trusted outlets like TechRadar. Users can add preferred sites by clicking a star icon next to the Top Stories banner, selecting their choices, and reloading the results. The rollout aims to give readers finer control over the news they encounter while searching for tech topics. Read more