Chegg Takes on Alphabet: Google’s AI at the Center of the Controversy | A comprehensive overview of large language models | Large language models books | A compact guide to large language models pdf 2021 | Turtles AI

 Chegg, an online education platform, has taken legal action against Alphabet claiming that Google’s AI has drastically reduced traffic and compromised the business model. The company examines strategic alternatives, highlighting significant impacts according to international experts.

Key points:

• Legal action against Alphabet for unfair competition.
• Negative impact of Google’s AI on Chegg’s traffic.
• Significant decline in stock value.
• Consideration of strategic alternatives for corporate future.

Chegg filed a formal lawsuit against Alphabet, blaming Google’s innovative AI Overviews tool for a drastic drop in traffic to its educational platform, a phenomenon that led CEO Nathan Schultz to state that the loss of non-subscriber users, recorded at a 49 percent drop in January 2025 compared to 8 percent in the previous quarter, triggered a global strategic review; at the same time, Chegg’s stock value declined 21 percent in pre-market trading, losing nearly 95 percent of its value since ChatGPT was introduced, which highlights the magnitude of the economic consequences resulting from the increased visibility and perceived reliability of Google Search, which, according to spokesman José Castañeda, delivers billions of clicks daily to a wide range of websites and, with AI Overviews, further broadens the distribution of traffic; in a judicial context marked by the federal decision that had already recognized Google’s monopolistic position in the online search market, Chegg argues that the intensive use of Googlebots to collect data and feed AI summaries, without the possibility for content creators to activate effective countermeasures, constitutes a form of unfair competition that penalizes not only direct traffic but also informational diversity and the quality of the user experience, while other technology companies and even operators such as Yelp have already faced legal challenges over similar issues.

The evolution of digital tools calls for a thorough reflection on the dynamics of traffic and competitiveness in the online landscape.