Google Discover summarizes news with AI: the end of journalism?

Google integrates artificial intelligence into its mobile news feed, promising speed—but publishers fear losing visibility

A new leap for Google Discover

Google is taking another big step in integrating artificial intelligence into its services, this time with Google Discover, the personalized feed on Android and Chrome. The new feature? Automatically generated summaries of articles, powered by AI, to allow faster consumption of news.

As reported by the reliable source 9to5Google, the company has begun testing this feature: now Discover cards may include AI-generated previews that give users a quick glance at key content.

How the AI summaries work

The mechanism is simple: each summary shows three preview lines, with a “See more” button that expands it up to about ten lines. At the bottom, a disclaimer reminds users that the text was “generated with AI, which may contain errors.”

The preview title and image come from the first source used in the summary. But instead of the news outlet’s logo, users will see a stack of icons representing the sources. Tapping them opens a menu that lists all original articles the AI relied on.

What changes for users

For readers, this update means faster and more convenient access to the essence of a news story. Google is also testing a new Save button, placed next to the heart icon, which allows users to store preferred content in their Activity tab with a single tap.

The goal is clear: make Discover more efficient, intuitive, and personal.

But what about the publishers?

While users enjoy faster news browsing, publishers are sounding the alarm. If people stop clicking through to full articles, websites lose traffic—traffic that fuels their ad-based business model.

After the criticism sparked by AI Overviews in Google Search, this new feature follows a similar pattern: centralizing content within Google’s ecosystem and potentially bypassing content creators.

The long-term impact could reshape how we access, value, and pay for information.

FAQ

1. What are AI summaries in Google Discover?
   They are brief previews generated by artificial intelligence to speed up news reading.
2. How are they activated?
   Currently in testing and shown automatically for selected users.
3. Are they reliable?
   Each summary includes a note warning of possible AI errors.
4. Which sources are used?
   Multiple news sources, listed via a clickable icon stack.
5. Why are publishers concerned?
   Users may no longer visit the original websites, reducing traffic and revenue.
6. How does the Save button work?
   It adds articles to your Google Activity panel in one tap.
7. Is it the same AI as Google Search?
   Yes, it’s based on the same technology behind AI Overviews.
8. Is this feature on desktop?
   No, it’s only on Android and Chrome mobile for now.
9. Can the summaries be disabled?
   Currently, there’s no option to turn them off.
10. Will it change how we read news?
    Definitely—it promotes faster reading, possibly at the cost of depth.