The BBC is considering legal proceedings against the AI search engine Perplexity, alleging that it uses its content without authorization, stating that Perplexity reproduces material “verbatim.” In a letter addressed to Perplexity’s CEO, the BBC claims that the platform’s default model was “trained using BBC content.” The broadcaster is seeking an injunction unless Perplexity stops scraping its content, eliminates all BBC material, and offers financial compensation. While the BBC has not commented further aside from confirming the Financial Times article, Perplexity has dismissed the claims as “manipulative and opportunistic,” arguing that the BBC misunderstands technology, the internet, and intellectual property laws. Perplexity also suggested that the legal threats aim to safeguard Google’s alleged monopoly for the benefit of the BBC. It operates as an online search engine, utilizing a large language model to provide answers to various queries.
The BBC contends that Perplexity’s use of its content reduces users’ incentive to visit its site directly, leading to concerns about the unethical and biased application of journalism by AI companies, which could damage the BBC’s reputation. Reportedly, 17% of Perplexity’s responses included significant flaws, mainly inaccuracies and lack of context. Although this will be the BBC’s first lawsuit against an AI company, Perplexity has encountered legal actions from other publishers like the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times for copyright violations. Previous investigations indicated that Perplexity bypassed content blocks to acquire material. In reaction to these issues, Perplexity started a revenue-sharing initiative with several publishers last year.
Ironically, as media publishers argue their content ownership rights, the valuation of AI companies continues to surge, with OpenAI valued at $300 billion and Perplexity at $14 billion, while major investors include SoftBank, Nvidia, and Amazon. Meanwhile, journalism has become increasingly unstable, with nearly 2,900 local newspapers in the US shutting down since 2005, according to Northwestern University.
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