Chegg sues Google over AI Overviews, alleges unfair content use

New Delhi: Ed-tech company Chegg has filed a lawsuit against Google in Washington DC, alleging that the tech giant is using publishers' content without proper compensation in its AI Overviews feature.

As per news reports, Chegg claims this practice diverts traffic away from publishers' websites, leading to a decline in visitors and subscribers. 

Chegg, headquartered in Santa Clara, California, alleges that Google’s AI Overviews—rolled out globally to over a billion users in more than 100 countries—transform the search engine into an “answer engine” that keeps users on Google’s platform rather than directing them to original content providers like Chegg. 

The company, known for its textbook rentals, homework help, and tutoring services, said this shift has caused a devastating drop in visitors, with non-subscriber traffic plummeting 49% in January 2025 compared to a modest 8% decline in Q2 2024.

The complaint accuses Google of three key violations under the Sherman Antitrust Act: reciprocal dealing, monopoly maintenance, and unjust enrichment. Chegg argued that Google coerces publishers into supplying content to remain indexed in search results, then uses that content to fuel AI-generated answers without compensation.

The company is now considering a sale or going private due to the financial impact. 

Google has fired back, dismissing the lawsuit as “meritless.” Spokesperson José Castañeda defended AI Overviews, stating, “People find Search more helpful and use it more, creating new opportunities for content to be discovered. Every day, Google sends billions of clicks to sites across the web, and AI Overviews send traffic to a greater diversity of sites.” Google maintains that its feature enhances user experience and still drives significant traffic to publishers, a claim Chegg disputes as insufficient to offset the losses.

The case has landed in the courtroom of US District Judge Amit Mehta, who last year ruled that Google holds an illegal monopoly in online search—a decision Google plans to appeal.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai recently defended AI Overviews at the World Government Summit in UAE, asserting that they contribute to the growth of search.