Rupert Murdoch’s media companies, Dow Jones and the New York Post, have initiated legal action against the AI startup Perplexity AI, accusing it of “massive illegal copying” of their copyrighted content. The lawsuit, filed in the Southern District of New York, underscores the intensifying conflict between traditional publishers and tech companies over the unauthorized use of copyrighted material in the development and operation of AI systems.
According to the complaint, the publishers assert that Perplexity’s actions constitute a “brazen scheme” to compete for readership while exploiting the valuable content they produce. “This suit is brought by news publishers who seek redress for Perplexity’s actions,” the lawsuit states.
Perplexity AI, which aims to disrupt the search engine market currently dominated by Google, synthesizes information from what it considers authoritative sources and presents summaries directly within its platform. The startup utilizes various large language models (LLMs), including those from OpenAI and Meta‘s open-source Llama, to generate these summaries. Although Perplexity provides citations, its marketing promotes the idea that users can “skip the links,” raising concerns among publishers.
In contrast, Google has also begun displaying AI-generated summaries akin to those of Perplexity, but publishers have generally accepted this arrangement, recognizing that opting out would result in their content being removed from Google’s search results, making them virtually invisible online.
The lawsuit emphasizes the distinction between Perplexity and traditional search engines, asserting that the latter facilitate the discovery of content rather than serving as substitutes. The publishers argue that their journalists work diligently under tight deadlines to deliver high-quality news, and they rely on advertising and subscription sales to sustain their operations.
Related topics:
Senators Call for Review of Undersea Cable Security Amid Rising Geopolitical Tensions
U.S. Set to Implement Restrictions on AI Investments in China
AI Firm Nebius Surges in Nasdaq Debut Following Yandex Split