A group of Democratic senators, led by Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), is urging the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate the potential anticompetitive practices of AI tools that summarize and reuse content from news articles, recipes, and other sources. In a letter to the agencies, the senators expressed concerns about the growing dominance of AI-generated content features, which they believe threaten publishers’ ability to monetize their original work.
The letter, co-signed by Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Tina Smith (D-MN), highlights the challenges AI content generators present for creators and journalists. The lawmakers argue that as media outlets face consolidation and layoffs, the rise of AI features risks exacerbating the struggle for fair compensation.
“Dominant online platforms, such as Google and Meta, generate billions of dollars per year in advertising revenue from news and other original content created by others,” the letter stated. “New generative AI features threaten to exacerbate these problems.”
AI’s Impact on Publishers and Market Competition
The senators expressed particular concern over how AI-generated summaries, unlike traditional search results, often keep users on the platform that provides the AI summary, preventing traffic from reaching the original publisher’s website. By keeping users on the platform, tech companies profit from advertising and data collection, while the creators of the original content receive no compensation.
The lawmakers emphasized that publishers who wish to avoid having their content used in this way are left with no choice but to opt out of search indexing altogether, a move that would severely impact their visibility and referral traffic. “These tools may pit content creators against themselves without any recourse to profit from AI-generated content that was composed using their original content,” the letter continued.
Additionally, the senators argued that these AI features may distort markets by forcing content creators to compete with their own work, which is now being repurposed by AI without authorization. For example, a search for a recipe that once directed users to the original website may now provide an AI-generated summary of the recipe, directly competing with the content creator.
Potential Antitrust Violations and Regulatory Action
The letter calls on the FTC and DOJ to investigate whether the design of generative AI features on dominant platforms constitutes “exclusionary conduct or an unfair method of competition” in violation of antitrust laws. The senators are concerned that AI-powered content features, implemented by already powerful platforms, could further consolidate control over digital content and advertising markets.
Senator Klobuchar, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, has been a vocal advocate for updating competition laws to address the challenges posed by modern technologies. Last year, she introduced the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act, aimed at allowing news organizations to negotiate fair compensation for their content with dominant online platforms. The rise of AI-generated summaries only heightens these concerns.
The lawmakers’ letter also reflects a broader unease about the future of local news, with a study showing that the U.S. has lost nearly 2,900 newspapers in recent years. Generative AI, they argue, could make it even harder for journalists and publishers to survive, threatening the diversity of local news sources and the overall competitive landscape in digital content.
Looking Forward: The Path to Legislation?
While it remains to be seen whether the FTC and DOJ will take up the call for an investigation, the letter marks the latest step in the senators’ efforts to hold tech giants accountable for their growing influence over content creation and distribution. If regulators find they cannot act under current laws, the groundwork may be laid for future legislation that specifically addresses these concerns around AI and content generation.
As Senator Klobuchar and her colleagues push for action, it is clear that the rise of generative AI is reshaping the digital content landscape, with significant implications for publishers, creators, and competition. Whether through regulatory enforcement or new laws, the debate over AI’s role in the media ecosystem is far from over.
