Two German courts now hold Google liable for what its AI overviews say

PUBLISHER ARTICLE PREVIEW

From the original article

Google tried to overturn a landmark Munich ruling on liability for AI search summaries by appealing, then quietly settled. Now a second court has applied the same reasoning. Google's AI answers count as the company's own content, and Google is responsible for them.

In late May, the Munich Regional Court I ruled in a widely watched case that Google is directly liable for the content of its AI-generated search summaries. Google's AI had falsely linked two Munich-based publishers to fraud schemes. The judges classified AI Overviews not as mere search results but as Google's own statements, meaning the company itself has to answer for them.

Instead of hiding behind the role of a neutral middleman passing along third-party information, Google would have to own the unlawful statements its AI produces. For a search feature that constantly generates new answers, that's a legal risk that's hard to quantify. If this view holds up, it could call into question the entire business model of AI search in Germany and shape the debate in other countries too.

The distinction between a search reference and original content could also have consequences beyond false factual claims. If AI answers count as Google's own content, the publishers whose texts Google uses to generate those answers might eventually assert their own claims. That wasn't part of the Munich case, but it's a logical next step.

As THE DECODER has learned, the appeal Google publicly announced was never carried through to a decision. The case ended in a settlement instead, meaning no higher court ever weighed in on the Munich reasoning. Why the settlement was reached and whether money changed hands is unknown. Neither Google nor the affected publisher would comment.