Google is testing AI-powered article summaries on participating Google News pages as part of a new pilot program. Participating publications include Der Spiegel, El País, Folha, Infobae, Kompas, The Guardian, The Times of India, The Washington Examiner, and The Washington Post, among others.
The pilot program aims to explore how AI can engage audiences while providing readers with additional context before they click through to full articles. While AI-generated summaries may reduce direct traffic to news sites, participating publishers will receive direct payments from Google to offset potential declines in readership.
Features and Experimentation
AI-powered article overviews will appear only on the Google News pages of participating publications and not elsewhere in Google News or Search. The program builds on Google’s previous AI news experiments, including AI summaries in the Discover feed launched in July. In that update, users see a collection of publisher logos accompanied by AI-generated summaries rather than a single headline.
Google is also testing audio briefings for users who prefer listening to news and partnering with organizations such as Estadão, Antara, Yonhap, and The Associated Press to integrate real-time information in the Gemini app. All AI-generated content includes clear attribution and links to original articles.
Additionally, Google is expanding the global rollout of its “Preferred Sources” feature, initially launched in the U.S. and India in August. This allows users to select favorite news sites and blogs to appear in the Top Stories section of search results. In the coming days, the feature will be available for English-language users worldwide, with all supported languages targeted for early next year.
Enhancing AI Mode and Contextual Links
Google is also increasing the number of inline links in AI Mode and introducing “contextual introductions” for embedded links, brief explanations that highlight why a link may be useful. Upcoming updates in the Gemini app will feature a dedicated carousel for news subscription links, with AI Overviews and AI Mode integration following shortly.
The pilot shows Google’s attempt to balance two goals: offering users richer, AI-powered news experiences and supporting publishers through new commercial models. At the same time, it brings up questions about the risk of creating ideological bubbles and the need to preserve a diversity of viewpoints in the news people consume.
Meanwhile, Google is also testing a built-in AI Mode in Search that lets users move seamlessly from AI Overviews to conversational results within the same page.
