State lawmakers are preparing to ditch proposed legislation that would require big tech companies to pay for California-based news outlets’ content in favor of a $172.5 million payout from Google that, matched with $70 million in state taxpayer money, would be used to fund local journalism outlets and boost AI innovation over the next five years, according to media reports.
The $242.5 million deal would scuttle two bills working through the California legislature, according to Sacramento station KCRA 3, which cited multiple anonymous sources. Journalism advocates criticized the potential deal as a “ratification of Google’s monopoly” on distributing news.