New York Times Sues Jeff Bezos-Backed Perplexity AI Over Copyright Infringement
The New York Times has taken legal action against Perplexity AI, a company with significant backing from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, alleging that the artificial intelligence firm systematically harvested its copyrighted content and produced misleading information. This lawsuit highlights a growing tension between traditional media organizations and AI developers over intellectual property rights and the ethical use of information in the age of generative AI. The core of the dispute revolves around accusations of unauthorized scraping of millions of articles and the generation of 'hallucinated' content that misrepresents the Times' reporting.
The New York Times filed its complaint in federal court, accusing Perplexity AI of illegally obtaining, distributing, and displaying its articles, including those typically reserved for paying subscribers. The Times asserts that Perplexity's business model is fundamentally built upon the systematic collection and replication of copyrighted material, for which no licensing agreements were ever established. Graham James, a spokesperson for The Times, emphasized the organization's objection to Perplexity's use of its content without permission, particularly to train and advance its AI products, as this content is intended for its subscribers.
Furthermore, the lawsuit alleges that Perplexity's AI models generated summaries that were not only false or misleading but also explicitly associated with the Times' brand. This practice, the Times argues, creates the false impression that the newspaper reported information it never published. Such 'hallucinations,' as described in the filing, pose a significant risk to the Times' journalistic integrity and confuse readers regarding the original source of the content. This legal action, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, follows over a year after the New York Times initially issued a cease-and-desist notice to Perplexity.
In response to the lawsuit, Jesse Dwyer, Perplexity AI's communications chief, dismissed the legal challenge, characterizing it as a common tactic employed by publishers to resist new technological advancements. Perplexity AI has previously stated that it does not engage in data scraping to train its foundational models; instead, it indexes web pages and provides factual citations. Coinciding with the Times' lawsuit, the Chicago Tribune also filed a similar complaint against Perplexity, underscoring the broader industry concern over AI's use of copyrighted content. Perplexity AI, currently valued at approximately $20 billion, did not immediately comment on the developments.
This legal battle underscores the critical debate surrounding copyright in the digital age, particularly as generative AI technologies rapidly evolve. Media entities are increasingly seeking to protect their intellectual property from unauthorized use by AI companies, which often rely on vast datasets, including published articles, to train their algorithms. The outcomes of these lawsuits could significantly shape the future landscape of content creation, distribution, and the development of AI, potentially establishing new precedents for how AI interacts with copyrighted materials and how creators are compensated for their work.