European Parliament warns AI‑driven “zero‑click” news feeds threaten journalism

Antonis Kalogeropoulos, a political‑communication researcher, warned that AI‑generated search answers are creating a “zero‑click” environment where users read AI‑summaries without visiting news sites. He told a STOA panel in the European Parliament that this shift could strip editors of traffic, advertising revenue, subscriptions and direct reader relationships. Larger media organisations may better absorb the loss, while smaller outlets risk greater vulnerability. The discussion focused on the future of science journalism, public trust and democracy in an ecosystem increasingly dominated by AI tools.

Kalogeropoulos emphasized that the phenomenon is not just about how articles are written, but how they are distributed, noting that “the public receives AI‑generated summaries and no longer clicks through to the original publications.”