A court in Munich has decided that Google is legally responsible for incorrect information produced by its AI Overview feature. Google has stated that it plans to challenge this decision.

慕尼黑的一家法院已決定，Google 的「AI 概覽」功能所產生的錯誤資訊，Google 在法律上須負責任。Google 表示計劃對此決定提出挑戰。

The legal case began when two publishing companies in Munich found that AI-generated summaries falsely linked them to fraud and subscription scams. The main argument was whether AI summaries should be treated the same as standard search engine results. Google argued that it does not claim third-party content as its own and that the operator is not responsible for how data is processed. Furthermore, the company emphasized that users can verify information using the provided links and should be cautious about AI-generated data.

這起法律案件始於慕尼黑兩家出版社發現，AI 生成的摘要將其與詐騙及訂閱陷阱錯誤關聯。主要爭論點在於 AI 摘要是否應與標準搜尋引擎結果同等看待。Google 主張其並未將第三方內容聲稱為己，且營運者無需對數據處理方式負責。此外，該公司強調用戶可以使用提供的連結驗證資訊，並應對 AI 生成的數據保持謹慎。

However, the Munich Regional Court I ruled that the AI Overview function does more than just list third-party information. The court reasoned that because the system combines data and presents it in a structured way, it creates its own independent statements. Consequently, the court rejected the usual legal protections that shield search engines from liability. The judges concluded that these summaries are independent statements that lack enough warnings about potential errors. As a result, Google must stop sharing the false claims and pay 80% of the legal costs.

然而，慕尼黑第一區域法院裁定，「AI 概覽」功能所做的不僅僅是列出第三方資訊。法院認為，由於系統會整合數據並以結構化方式呈現，因此創造了其獨立的陳述。結果，法院拒絕了通常保護搜尋引擎免於承擔責任的法律保障。法官結論認為，這些摘要屬於獨立陳述，且缺乏足夠關於潛在錯誤的警告。因此，Google 必須停止分享這些錯誤指控，並支付 80% 的法律費用。

This ruling happens while there is growing tension between Google's parent company, Alphabet, and content creators. Publishers have claimed that AI in search results has caused a drop in website traffic and revenue. At the same time, antitrust regulators have started investigating these practices. Google maintains that most of its AI Overviews are accurate and described these specific errors as rare incidents rather than a general system failure.

此項裁決出現在 Google 母公司 Alphabet 與內容創作者之間緊張局勢加劇之際。出版社聲稱，搜尋結果中的 AI 導致網站流量和收入下降。與此同時，反壟斷監管機構已開始調查這些做法。Google 主張其大部分 AI 概覽均準確無誤，並將這些特定錯誤描述為罕見事件，而非系統性失效。

Google is now appealing the ruling, which sets an important example for how AI developers are held responsible for the content their systems create.

Google 目前正對該裁決提出上訴，這為 AI 開發者如何對其系統創造的內容負責，樹立了一個重要的先例。