Reddit Battles Perplexity in AI Data Scraping Dispute

Reddit has filed a lawsuit against AI startup Perplexity, accusing it of unlawfully scraping data to train its AI search engine. The lawsuit is part of a broader wave of legal actions by content owners against tech companies for alleged misuse of copyrighted material in AI training.

In a legal battle unfolding in New York federal court, social media giant Reddit has sued artificial intelligence startup Perplexity. The lawsuit accuses Perplexity, along with three other companies, of illegally scraping Reddit's data to enhance Perplexity's AI-based search engine. This marks yet another incident in a growing list of content owner lawsuits targeting tech firms over alleged unauthorized use of material for AI training purposes.

Reddit's lawsuit is aimed at halting what it describes as 'data laundering,' with the platform arguing that companies are scrambling for quality human content to fuel their AI systems. According to Reddit, the implicated companies bypassed its data protection measures, infringing on the site's content that Perplexity reportedly used without consent.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified monetary compensation and a court order to block Perplexity from further utilizing Reddit's data. With AI companies like Google and OpenAI having licensed Reddit's content, the implications of this legal action could stretch far beyond Reddit itself, highlighting a crucial moment in the contentious realm of AI content training.

(With inputs from agencies.)