By DPA
Publication Date: 2026-06-12 12:11:00
Google can be held directly liable for false answers generated by its in-house artificial intelligence (AI), a German court ruled on Friday, in a case that could have major implications for tech companies.
The 26th civil chamber at the Munich Regional Court, which specializes in press and defamation law, issued the potentially landmark ruling. The decision is not yet final, as Google can appeal.
Two Munich-based publishers sued the internet company, alleging that its “AI Overview” feature, which appears at the top of searches, falsely linked the companies to fraud schemes, dubious business practices and subscription traps.
The AI mixed information about other, genuinely questionable companies with the plaintiffs and invented connections that did not exist even in the sources Google attached.
At the heart of the legal dispute was the question of whether an AI overview should be treated in law the same way as conventional search results.
Google argued that the company is not responsible…
