Big Media Unleashes Big Guns on AI Firm Perplexity Over Copyright Infringement
In a move that signals the escalating tensions between established news outlets and AI companies, The New York Times and Chicago Tribune have filed separate lawsuits against Perplexity, alleging copyright infringement. Despite sending cease-and-desist demands to Perplexity, which persisted in using their content without permission, the AI firm has continued to scrape news websites, including those of the two major newspapers.
According to the lawsuit, The New York Times claims that Perplexity's AI models have reproduced its articles verbatim, with little regard for the original source. Moreover, the company is accused of generating "hallucinations" – completely fabricated information – and passing them off as genuine, thereby damaging the newspaper's brand.
The Chicago Tribune has filed a similar lawsuit against Perplexity, stating that its AI-generated products have produced outputs that are "identical or substantially similar" to its content. The newspaper claims that millions of copyrighted stories, videos, images, and other works have been unlawfully copied by Perplexity for use in its tools and products.
These lawsuits mark the latest chapter in a growing number of cases involving copyright holders and AI companies in the US. Similar disputes have already emerged between The New York Times and companies like OpenAI and Microsoft over the unauthorized training of large language models on millions of articles without permission.
However, some deals have been struck to license content to AI firms. For instance, OpenAI has signed agreements with media companies, including Amazon, which reportedly pays as much as $25 million per year for access to The New York Times' archives. It remains to be seen whether such deals will set a precedent in the ongoing battle over copyright and AI-generated content.
In a move that signals the escalating tensions between established news outlets and AI companies, The New York Times and Chicago Tribune have filed separate lawsuits against Perplexity, alleging copyright infringement. Despite sending cease-and-desist demands to Perplexity, which persisted in using their content without permission, the AI firm has continued to scrape news websites, including those of the two major newspapers.
According to the lawsuit, The New York Times claims that Perplexity's AI models have reproduced its articles verbatim, with little regard for the original source. Moreover, the company is accused of generating "hallucinations" – completely fabricated information – and passing them off as genuine, thereby damaging the newspaper's brand.
The Chicago Tribune has filed a similar lawsuit against Perplexity, stating that its AI-generated products have produced outputs that are "identical or substantially similar" to its content. The newspaper claims that millions of copyrighted stories, videos, images, and other works have been unlawfully copied by Perplexity for use in its tools and products.
These lawsuits mark the latest chapter in a growing number of cases involving copyright holders and AI companies in the US. Similar disputes have already emerged between The New York Times and companies like OpenAI and Microsoft over the unauthorized training of large language models on millions of articles without permission.
However, some deals have been struck to license content to AI firms. For instance, OpenAI has signed agreements with media companies, including Amazon, which reportedly pays as much as $25 million per year for access to The New York Times' archives. It remains to be seen whether such deals will set a precedent in the ongoing battle over copyright and AI-generated content.