WSJ, New York Post File Lawsuit Against Perplexity AI Over Copyright Issues
The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post have initiated legal action against Perplexity AI for copyright infringement, alleging that the startup utilized their content without authorization to enhance its AI search engine. The lawsuit demands compensation and requests the destruction of any databases that contain infringing material.
TroibNews 
On Monday, The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post initiated legal proceedings in a U.S. court against Perplexity AI, claiming significant copyright infringement and trademark breaches.
Perplexity AI is recognized as one of the most promising startups in Silicon Valley, with its AI-driven search engine frequently cited as a possible competitor to Google.
The lawsuit, filed in a federal court in New York, accuses Perplexity of unlawfully duplicating and using copyrighted materials from both publications to enhance its AI-based "answer engine."
Perplexity.ai functions as a question-answering platform noted for its sleek, conversational interface.
In contrast to ChatGPT or Anthropic's Claude, Perplexity offers real-time answers that often include links to original sources, enabling users to confirm the information provided.
Unlike traditional search engines, Perplexity presents direct answers on its website, negating the need for users to navigate to the source site.
The lawsuit asserts this represents a "massive freeriding" on protected content, enabling Perplexity to siphon off readers and revenue from The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post.
"Unlike the business model of a traditional internet search engine, Perplexity's business model does not drive business toward content creators. To the contrary, it usurps content creators' monetization opportunities for itself," the lawsuit alleged.
Perplexity, which has received backing from Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos and AI powerhouse Nvidia, has yet to respond to requests for comments.
Additionally, the complaint charges Perplexity with harming the publishers' brands by attributing misleading information to their articles.
The plaintiffs are pursuing injunctive relief alongside statutory damages of up to $150,000 for each instance of infringement.
They are also calling for the destruction of any database that contains their copyrighted materials.
This legal action follows similar claims made by The New York Times, which has issued a cease and desist notice to Perplexity, marking the initial step toward possible litigation.
In a related case, the Times had filed a lawsuit last year against OpenAI, asserting that the developer of ChatGPT had unlawfully utilized content to train its AI on copyrighted materials.
News Corp, the parent company of The Wall Street Journal and the Post, has established a content agreement with OpenAI, while the lawsuit claims that Perplexity has disregarded requests to form comparable partnerships.
Debra A Smith for TROIB News
Perplexity AI is recognized as one of the most promising startups in Silicon Valley, with its AI-driven search engine frequently cited as a possible competitor to Google.
The lawsuit, filed in a federal court in New York, accuses Perplexity of unlawfully duplicating and using copyrighted materials from both publications to enhance its AI-based "answer engine."
Perplexity.ai functions as a question-answering platform noted for its sleek, conversational interface.
In contrast to ChatGPT or Anthropic's Claude, Perplexity offers real-time answers that often include links to original sources, enabling users to confirm the information provided.
Unlike traditional search engines, Perplexity presents direct answers on its website, negating the need for users to navigate to the source site.
The lawsuit asserts this represents a "massive freeriding" on protected content, enabling Perplexity to siphon off readers and revenue from The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post.
"Unlike the business model of a traditional internet search engine, Perplexity's business model does not drive business toward content creators. To the contrary, it usurps content creators' monetization opportunities for itself," the lawsuit alleged.
Perplexity, which has received backing from Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos and AI powerhouse Nvidia, has yet to respond to requests for comments.
Additionally, the complaint charges Perplexity with harming the publishers' brands by attributing misleading information to their articles.
The plaintiffs are pursuing injunctive relief alongside statutory damages of up to $150,000 for each instance of infringement.
They are also calling for the destruction of any database that contains their copyrighted materials.
This legal action follows similar claims made by The New York Times, which has issued a cease and desist notice to Perplexity, marking the initial step toward possible litigation.
In a related case, the Times had filed a lawsuit last year against OpenAI, asserting that the developer of ChatGPT had unlawfully utilized content to train its AI on copyrighted materials.
News Corp, the parent company of The Wall Street Journal and the Post, has established a content agreement with OpenAI, while the lawsuit claims that Perplexity has disregarded requests to form comparable partnerships.
Debra A Smith for TROIB News
