Media corporation News Corp has filed a lawsuit against Perplexity — a promising startup in the field of artificial intelligence. The lawsuit, filed in New York, alleges that Perplexity illegally uses copyrighted content to generate its responses to user queries. It concerns large-scale copying of news, analytical materials, and opinions, which violates News Corp’s intellectual property rights.
The plaintiffs accuse Perplexity of the fact that its “answer” algorithm does not simply search for information, but actually substitutes news sources, “stealing” audiences and undermining the profitability of media companies.
Perplexity loudly advertises its ability to provide such reliable answers that users can “skip the links” to original publishers and fully rely on Perplexity for news and analysis.
This case is not the first in the conflict between media and companies that use AI to generate content. It is known that The New York Times and Forbes have previously raised claims against Perplexity for the illegal use of their content. However, the company has so far refrained from making official comments regarding these accusations.
News Corp, which recently signed a multi-year contract with OpenAI, emphasizes the importance of fair content use in the era of AI development. As the company’s CEO Robert Thomson stated, “We must stand up to content kleptocracy for the sake of our journalists, our authors, and our company.”
