NY Post and Wall Street Journal Sue Perplexity AI for Copyright Infringement

The parent companies of The Post and the Wall Street Journal have jointly filed a lawsuit against Perplexity AI, a tech startup backed by Jeff Bezos, for what they describe as a "massive amount of illegal copying" of their copyrighted materials.

NYP Holdings Inc. and Dow Jones, both subsidiaries of News Corp, brought the legal action in federal court in Manhattan on Monday. They are demanding that Perplexity AI stop using their news articles to generate answers to user inquiries.

The lawsuit also seeks a court order requiring Perplexity to destroy any databases that have been created from their copyrighted works without permission.

Perplexity AI is accused of copyright infringement for allegedly collecting and utilizing vast amounts of copyrighted content in a database that powers its AI service, which provides users with answers via a method called "retrieval-augmented generation" (RAG). According to the lawsuit, this was done without the necessary permissions or financial compensation.

Robert Thomson, the CEO of News Corp, criticized Perplexity, describing its actions as a violation of intellectual property that negatively impacts writers, journalists, and publishers. He stated that Perplexity has "willfully copied" significant amounts of copyrighted material and is presenting this reused information as if it were the original source.

Thomson emphasized that Perplexity advertises its service with the ability for users to "skip the links," suggesting that the company aims to bypass the need for proper payments to the content creators.

Founded in 2022, Perplexity AI markets itself as a free AI-powered answer engine designed to provide accurate and timely information. Its goal is to compete with Google by offering a service that combines features of both a chatbot and a search engine.

The company recently announced it had reached 10 million monthly active users and is currently valued at approximately $1 billion following its latest funding round. Meanwhile, reports indicate that Perplexity is in discussions to raise funds that could increase its valuation to at least $8 billion, with Jeff Bezos among the investors.

This lawsuit is not an isolated incident. Earlier in the year, Perplexity faced accusations of utilizing content from CNBC and Forbes without authorization or proper credit. Just last week, the New York Times issued a cease-and-desist notice demanding that Perplexity halt the use of its articles for generative AI purposes, claiming that such usage violates copyright laws.

Concerns have been amplified among publishers since the emergence of chatbots that extract and summarize information from the internet. Earlier this year, News Corp established a multiyear partnership with OpenAI, which allows OpenAI to access both current and archived materials from its major news platforms, including The Journal, Barron’s, and The Post.

Thomson lauded OpenAI for its ethical approach, asserting that integrity and creativity are crucial for the potential of artificial intelligence. He also indicated that Perplexity is not the only AI firm exploiting intellectual property, and that his company will vigorously pursue legal action against this trend.

Thomson remarked that while News Corp would prefer to partner with other companies rather than take legal action, they must defend the interests of their journalists, writers, and the integrity of their work against what he labeled as content theft.

lawsuit, copyright, Perplexity