# Legal Action Initiated Against AI Startup Perplexity for Copyright Violations
In a swiftly changing arena where artificial intelligence (AI) merges with journalism, a fresh legal confrontation has arisen. News Corp’s Dow Jones and the New York Post have initiated a lawsuit against the AI company **Perplexity**, alleging copyright violation and unauthorized appropriation of their journalistic materials. The lawsuit, lodged in New York, claims that Perplexity has participated in a “brazen scheme” to profit from their work without authorization, raising considerable issues regarding the ethical and legal ramifications of AI-generated content.
## The Claims: Copyright Violations and Revenue Loss
Perplexity, an AI startup that runs a search engine powered by large language models (LLMs) developed by platforms like OpenAI and Anthropic, faces accusations of “extensive illegal duplication” of news articles. The lawsuit indicates that the startup has utilized copyrighted content, analysis, and opinion articles from Dow Jones and the New York Post as inputs for its AI-optimized search engine. According to the claims, Perplexity’s platform creates responses to user inquiries that essentially serve as alternatives to the original news sources, thereby redirecting traffic and revenue away from the publishers.
The lawsuit contends that Perplexity’s behavior constitutes “freeriding” on the valuable content generated by these publishers, which encompasses prestigious outlets such as *The Wall Street Journal*. By reportedly replicating content on a wide scale, Perplexity is accused of jeopardizing the economic models of news organizations that depend on subscriptions and advertising income.
## The Wider Landscape: AI and News Media
The legal actions against Perplexity are part of a more extensive trend where news publishers are increasingly at odds with AI firms regarding the exploitation of their material. As AI systems like OpenAI’s GPT and Anthropic’s Claude grow more sophisticated, they necessitate large volumes of data to optimize their algorithms. Much of this data is sourced from publicly accessible content, including news articles, blogs, and various media formats.
Although certain AI entities have entered into licensing deals with publishers to properly utilize their content, others have been criticized for scraping web content without authorization. For example, OpenAI has formed commercial collaborations with multiple news organizations, including News Corp and the *Financial Times*, enabling ChatGPT users to access selected summaries and quotes from those outlets. Yet, many publishers are still cautious of AI firms that leverage their content without fair remuneration.
## Perplexity’s Business Model: AI-Powered Search with Proper Citations
Perplexity’s search engine is crafted to deliver immediate answers to user inquiries, complete with relevant sources and citations. The platform employs LLMs to generate informative and precise responses. However, the lawsuit asserts that the company’s “answer engine” significantly depends on copyrighted works, which it incorporates into its internal database. Consequently, Perplexity is reportedly producing responses that directly compete with the original news websites, reducing the necessity for users to visit those sites.
Additionally, the lawsuit accuses Perplexity of damaging the publishers’ reputations by inaccurately attributing content to them and, in certain instances, creating responses that include false or misleading information. This raises alarms about the trustworthiness of AI-generated content and the threat of misinformation.
## Legal Proceedings and Cease-and-Desist Orders
The complaint against Perplexity is not the first occasion of publishers pursuing legal action against AI entities. The *New York Times* has also filed a suit against OpenAI, accusing the firm of unlawfully scraping its content. Recently, the *New York Times* issued a cease-and-desist order to Perplexity, demanding that the startup refrain from utilizing its journalism to create summaries and other content variations.
In July, Dow Jones and the New York Post sent a notice to Perplexity, informing the startup of the proposed legal matters and suggesting discussions regarding a possible licensing arrangement. However, per the lawsuit, Perplexity “did not trouble itself to respond” to the notice, prompting the publishers to escalate the issue to litigation.
## News Corp’s Stance: Safeguarding Intellectual Property
News Corp’s CEO, Robert Thomson, has been outspoken regarding his disapproval of Perplexity, accusing the startup of misusing intellectual property and negatively affecting the livelihoods of journalists, authors, and publishers. In a statement, Thomson remarked, “The bewildering Perplexity has intentionally replicated vast quantities of copyrighted material without remuneration, and shamelessly presents rehashed content as a direct replacement for the original sources.”
Thomson’s statements underscore the increasing frustration among publishers who feel AI companies are reaping benefits from their labor without offering fair recompense. As AI technology keeps evolving, the friction between content creators and AI developers is likely to escalate, with additional legal disputes anticipated in the future.
## Perplexity’s Reply and Prospective Strategies
While Perplexity has yet to respond to
