Judge dismisses Chegg and Penske Google AI antitrust suits

A federal judge dismissed Chegg and Penske antitrust suits over traffic lost to Google AI Overviews.

US District Judge Amit Mehta dismissed 2025 antitrust lawsuits by Chegg and Penske Media Corporation accusing Google of using monopoly power to obtain publisher content for AI Overviews and Gemini and of diverting traffic. Chegg alleged Google scraped educational material so Gemini could recreate it; Penske, owner of Rolling Stone and Variety, said indexed sites cannot opt out of AI-answer harvesting. Mehta wrote that an expectation of search referrals is not a legal agreement and that antitrust law cannot replace legislation addressing the economic effects of new technology, adding that the court was not unsympathetic to publishers. The reports agree on the dismissal and that core holding. Ars Technica added that Mehta previously found Google liable in the DOJ search case but declined the harshest remedies, while The Verge, citing The Information, reported Google is paying about 100 publishers in a pilot covering AI Overviews, AI Mode, and Gemini, and disclosed that The Verge is part of Penske Media.

• On Oct. 1, 2026, US District Judge Amit Mehta dismissed 2025 antitrust lawsuits by Chegg and Penske Media Corporation against Google.
• The suits accused Google of using monopoly power to take indexed publisher content for AI Overviews and Gemini and of diverting referral traffic.
• Chegg alleged Google scraped educational material so Gemini could recreate it and cut traffic.
• Penske, owner of Rolling Stone and Variety, said indexed sites cannot opt out of AI-answer harvesting.
• Mehta held that an expectation of free search referrals is not a legal agreement and that antitrust law cannot replace legislation on AI search economics, while saying the court was not unsympathetic to publishers.
• Mehta previously found Google liable in the DOJ search antitrust case but declined the harshest remedies.
• The Information, cited by The Verge, reported Google is paying about 100 publishers in a pilot covering AI Overviews, AI Mode, and Gemini.
• The Verge disclosed that it is part of Penske Media.