Google has launched a new pilot program that will bring AI-generated article overviews to selected Google News pages, the company announced on Wednesday. The initiative is part of a broader commercial partnership designed to explore how AI can boost audience engagement across digital news platforms. Major international publishers participating in the AI pilot include Der Spiegel, El País, Folha, Infobae, Kompas, The Guardian, The Times of India, The Washington Examiner, and The Washington Post, among others. Google says the goal is to work directly with newsrooms to test new AI news features and gather feedback on how automated summaries could support readers and publishers.
AI-Powered Summaries Will Appear Only on Participating Publisher Pages The new AI article overviews will appear exclusively on the Google News pages of the participating publications. They will not show up across the broader Google News interface or in Google Search, keeping the feature highly targeted as the company evaluates its impact. Google says the summaries are designed to give readers added context before clicking through to a full article, helping them understand the topic at a glance. While AI-generated summaries could potentially lead to fewer direct clicks, publishers in the program will receive direct payments from Google, helping offset any decline in traffic. Builds on Google’s Earlier AI News Experiments This pilot follows Google’s rollout of AI-powered summaries in Discover earlier this year. Instead of a single headline from a news outlet, users now see logos from multiple publishers alongside a short AI-generated news summary that cites the sources.
The company is also experimenting with AI audio briefings, allowing users to listen to automated news updates rather than read them — a feature aimed at commuters and multitaskers. Partnerships to Enhance Gemini With Real-Time News Data As part of the initiative, Google is collaborating with major news organizations such as Estadão, Antara, Yonhap, and The Associated Press. Their real-time reporting will help improve the accuracy and timeliness of results inside the Gemini AI app, reinforcing Google’s push to integrate news data directly into its AI ecosystem.
In a blog post, Google emphasized its commitment to evolving how people consume information worldwide:
“As the way people consume information evolves, we’ll continue to improve our products… from major news publishers to new and emerging voices.”
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