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The owner of Rolling Stone, Billboard and Variety sued Google on Friday, alleging the technology giant’s AI summaries use its journalism without consent and reduce traffic to its websites. The lawsuit by Penske Media in federal court in Washington, D.C., marks the first time a major U.S. publisher has taken Alphabet-owned Google to court over the AI-generated summaries that now appear on top of its search results. News organizations have for months said the new features, including Google’s “AI Overviews,” siphon traffic away from their sites, eroding advertising and subscription revenue. Penske, a family-owned media conglomerate led by Jay Penske and whose content attracts 120 million online visitors a month, said Google only includes publishers’ websites in its search results if it can also use their articles in AI summaries. Without the leverage, Google would have to pay publishers for the right to republish their work or use it to train its AI systems, the company said in the lawsuit. It added Google was able to impose such terms due to its search dominance, pointing to a federal court’s finding last year that the tech giant held a near 90% share of the U.S. search market. “We have a responsibility to proactively fight for the future of digital mediaand preserve its integrity all of which is threatened by Google’s current actions,” Penske said. It alleged that about 20% of Google searches that link to its sites now show AI Overviews, a share it expects to rise, and added that its affiliate revenue has fallen by more than a third from its peak by the end of 2024 as search traffic declined. Online education company Chegg also sued Google in February, alleging that the search giant’s AI-generated overviews were eroding demand for original content and undermining publishers’ ability to compete. Responding to Penske’s lawsuit, Google said on Saturday that AI overviews offer a better experience to users and send traffic to a wider variety of websites. With AI Overviews, people find Search more helpful and use it more, creating new opportunities for content to be discovered. We will defend against these meritless claims.” Google Spokesperson Jose Castaneda said. A judge handed the company a rare antitrust win earlier this month by ruling that it will not have to sell its Chrome browser as part of efforts to open up competition in search. The move disappointed some publishers and industry bodies, including the News/Media Alliance which has said the decision left publishers without the ability to opt out of AI overviews. “All of the elements being negotiated with every other AI company doesn’t apply to Google because they have the market power to not engage in those healthy practices,” Danielle Coffey, CEO of the News/Media Alliance, a trade group representing more than 2,200 U.S.-based publishers, told Reuters on Friday. “When you have the massive scale and market power that Google has, you are not obligated to abide by the same norms. That is the problem.” Coffey was referring to AI licensing deals firms such as ChatGPT-maker OpenAI have been signing with the likes of News Corp, Financial Times and The Atlantic. Google, whose Gemini chatbot competes with ChatGPT, has been slower to sign such deals. Additional reporting by Rhea Rose Abraham and Nilutpal Timsina Aditya Soni, Reuters
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China accused Nvidia on Monday of violating the country’s antimonopoly laws and said it would step up scrutiny of the world’s leading chipmaker, escalating tensions with Washington as the two countries hold trade talks this week.Chinese regulators said they would carry out “further investigation” into Nvidia after a preliminary investigation found that the company breached regulations when it made a years-old acquisition.The one-sentence statement from the State Administration for Market Regulation statement said the investigation centered on Nvidia’s purchase of network and data transmission company Mellanox Technologies.Nvidia didn’t respond immediately to a request for comment.Regulators said last year that they were investigating the company for suspected violations stemming from the $6.9 billion acquisition of Mellanox that was completed in 2020.The decision ratchets up pressure on the U.S. as officials from Washington hold trade talks in Spain with Beijing’s representatives, and follows other moves by Beijing to increase scrutiny of the U.S. chip industry.On Saturday, China’s Ministry of Commerce said it was carrying out an antidumping investigation into certain analog IC chips imported from the U.S., including commodity chips commonly made by companies such as Texas Instruments and ON Semiconductor.The ministry also announced a separate antidiscrimination probe into U.S. measures against China’s chip sector.In talks scheduled to run from Sunday to Wednesday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is meeting Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Madrid for negotiations on tariffs and national security issues related to the ownership of social media platform TikTok.It’s the fourth round of discussions after meetings in London, Geneva and Stockholm. The two governments have agreed to several 90-day pauses on a series of increasing reciprocal tariffs, staving off an all-out trade war.Santa Clara, Calif.-based Nvidia, the world’s most valuable semiconductor maker, has become central to the U.S.-China trade war, as the two sides battle for tech supremacy.The company has faced restrictions on chip exports to China imposed by President Joe Biden’s administration that were then reinforced by President Donald Trump. Kelvin Chan, AP Business Writer
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“Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle” carved out a place in box-office history this weekend as the Japanese anime film sliced straight to No. 1 outpacing the horror sequel “The Conjuring: Last Rites.”The Sony-owned Crunchyroll release shattered expectations with a mighty $70 million debut in North America, according to Sunday estimates from Comscore. That haul marks the biggest domestic opening ever for an anime film, surpassing “Pokémon: The First Movie,” which opened with $31 million in 1999.The film extended its meteoric run, scoring the biggest anime opening of all time with a $132.1 million weekend, according to Comscore. Crunchyroll and Sony rolled it out across North America and 49 international markets, pushing the global total to $177.8 million.“This performance by this particular film shows the unpredictability of the box office,” said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. “If we were sitting here, let’s say a month or even a couple of weeks ago, would we be thinking, ‘Wow, a Japanese anime film would be number one at the box office, overperform and bring in $70 million?’ If you predicted that, kudos to you.”The movie is the first in a three-film trilogy that brings the hit Shonen saga to its climactic showdown. The story follows Tanjiro Kamado, a kind-hearted boy who takes up swordsmanship after his family is slaughtered and his sister, Nezuko, is turned into a demon. Together, they fight a supernatural underworld of monstrous foes while clinging to what’s left of their humanity.The “Infinity Castle” opener hails from renowned studio Ufotable, whose lavish visuals and breakneck fight sequences have helped make the franchise a global sensation and juggernaut.The film’s domination also points to a September rebound after a sluggish August. Warner Bros.’ “The Conjuring: Last Rites,” which opened to $83 million last weekend, slipped to second with $26 million.The horror sequel has now scared up $131 million domestically.“This shows that two months of down trending box office can be totally reversed over the course of a couple of weekends,” Dergarabedian said.Focus Features’ “Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale” opened in third with $18.1 million. Set in the 1930s, the film finds Lady Mary embroiled in a public scandal as the Crawleys confront financial strain and the looming threat of social disgrace. While the aristocratic family adapts to change, the household staff prepares for a new chapter with the next generation leading Downton into the future.In fourth place, Lionsgate’s “The Long Walk” debuted with $11.5 million. Directed by Francis Lawrence, the adaptation of Stephen King’s first-written novel is a thriller that asks a chilling question: “How far would you go to survive?”Pixar’s “Toy Story (30th Anniversary)” brought Buzz, Woody and the gang back to the big screen, opening in fifth with $3.5 million across 2,375 theaters. Warner Bros.’ “Weapons” followed in sixth with $2.75 million, while Disney’s filmed musical “Hamilton” landed seventh with $2.2 million. “Freakier Friday” claimed eighth with $2.1 million.Rounding out the top 10: “Spinal Tap II: The End Continues” debuted with $1.6 million, narrowly edging “The Sound of Music (60th Anniversary),” which sang up $1.4 million.Dergarabedian said he expects more September good fortunes with the release of Jordan Peele’s horror film “HIM” next week and Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another” coming out this month.“September, after a very modest month of August, is proving to be an absolutely fantastic post-summer month for movies and for audiences and for movie theaters,” he said. Top 10 movies by domestic box office With final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore: “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle” $70 million “The Conjuring: Last Rites,” $26 million. “Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale,” $18.1 million. “The Long Walk,” $11.5 million. “”Toy Story (30th Anniversary),” $3.5 million. “Weapons,” $2.75 million. “Hamilton,” $2.2 million. “Freakier Friday,” $2.1 million. “”Spinal Tap II: The End Continues” $1.6 million. “The Sound of Music (60th Anniversary),” $1.4 million. Jonathan Landrum Jr., AP Entertainment Writer
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