June 15, 2026 — In an important decision that could have implications for AI liability and government regulation, a German court has found Google directly liable for harm caused by false statements generated by its AI overview function. The court found that Google’s AI overview does not have the same status and liability protection as its classic search engine.
We have the full court ruling, translated from the original German, reprinted below.
In its May 28, 2026, ruling, the Regional Court of Munich prohibited Google from spreading false claims about two Munich-based publishers through its AI-based search overviews.
Earlier this year a series of queries resulted in Google’s AI overview falsely linking the publishing company Verlagshaus24 to scams, subscription traps, and sketchy business practices. As first reported by Decoder: “According to the court, the AI mixed up information about other, genuinely sketchy companies with the plaintiffs and drew connections that didn't appear in any of the linked sources. The publishers sent Google a cease-and-desist letter, but Google didn't respond appropriately.”
Previous case law had established that search engines were not legally liable for the results turned up in response to a query. In its ruling, the German court held that “because the AI used by the defendant independently compiles the information in the overview and summarizes it into a summary text, this constitutes an independent presentation for...
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