Educational technology company Chegg has taken legal action against Google in federal court, alleging that the search engine’s “AI Overviews” have negatively impacted its traffic and revenue. According to Chegg, in order to be included in Google’s search results, it is required to provide content that Google can republish without permission in AI-generated answers, which unfairly competes for user attention on the internet and violates US antitrust laws.

Previously, other publishers, such as The New York Times, have filed lawsuits against AI companies for copyright infringement, claiming that these companies have used their intellectual property to train large language models without permission. However, Chegg is taking a different approach by accusing Google of exploiting its dominant market position to force companies to provide materials for its “AI Overviews” on its search page. If companies fail to comply, they risk being excluded from Google Search altogether.

Chegg has provided a screenshot of a Google AI Overview that uses information from Chegg’s website without attribution, although the page in question appears lower down in the search results.

Google has stated that it will defend itself against the lawsuit, with a spokesperson saying, “Every day, Google sends billions of clicks to sites across the web, and AI Overviews send traffic to a greater diversity of sites.”

Chegg claims that Google’s use of its monopoly power in this way constitutes “unlawful reciprocal dealing that harms competition” and is a violation of the Sherman Act. The company cites a federal judge’s ruling from last year that Google is a monopolist in search. Chegg is particularly affected by these practices because the breadth, depth, quality, and volume of its educational content are highly valuable for artificial intelligence applications.

Chegg is the latest company to sue Google over alleged misappropriation of intellectual property content, and its approach of using the Sherman Act is a novel one. As of January 2025, 38 copyright lawsuits related to AI have been filed in the US, according to a website tracking the claims, with mixed results so far.

If you purchase something through a link in this article, we may earn a commission.