wire / 2026-07-14-ee46
German Regulator Holds Google and Perplexity AI Liable for Misinformation
A German court decided that if your AI confidently makes things up, you own the making-up. Google will appeal, obviously, but 'the machine said it, not us' just got weaker in at least one jurisdiction.
The facts
Germany's media regulator ruled that Google's AI Overviews and Perplexity AI must comply with national media laws, following a court decision holding Google liable for inaccurate AI-generated content. The ruling establishes direct legal responsibility for misinformation produced by these AI systems, impacting media regulation and publisher accountability.