Germany’s media regulator has ruled that Google’s AI Overviews and Perplexity AI fall under the country’s media regulations, expanding oversight of artificial intelligence-generated content following a recent legal decision involving Google.
The Commission for Licensing and Supervision (ZAK), which represents Germany’s 14 state media authorities, said AI-generated summaries and chatbot responses should be regarded as content created by the companies operating the services, rather than merely as presentations of information from external websites.
The decision followed a ruling by a Munich court that found Google could be held responsible for allegedly inaccurate information produced by its AI Overview feature, determining that AI-generated summaries amount to the company’s own content.
ZAK Chairman Thorsten Schmiege said AI-driven search engines and chatbots function as content providers and would therefore be subject to Germany’s media laws.
The regulator also stated that liability protections under the European Union’s Digital Services Act, which generally protect online platforms from responsibility for illegal user-generated content, do not extend to AI-generated responses because such content is produced by the service providers themselves.
According to ZAK, Google’s AI Overviews appear prominently within search results, reducing the visibility of traditional website links and potentially creating an unfair disadvantage for independent media organisations.
The regulator added that AI chatbots such as Perplexity shape how users consume information by selecting and presenting sources, links and recommendations alongside generated responses.
It said this role could qualify them as media intermediaries subject to rules designed to protect media diversity.
Google said it would appeal the decision, arguing that the ruling does not reflect changing search behaviour or the evolving digital information environment.
The company maintained that its AI-generated summaries improve the search experience by helping users find relevant information more quickly and allowing them to ask follow-up questions.
Perplexity declined to comment on the ruling but said it complies with the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and holds SOC 2 Type II certification for its security and privacy practices.
