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The ongoing conflict between traditional media and tech startups has intensified as Rupert Murdoch’s Dow Jones and the New York Post initiated legal action against Perplexity AI, alleging significant infringement of their copyrighted material. The lawsuit, filed in the southern district of New York, accuses the AI firm of extensive and unauthorized copying of the publishers’ work.
This case represents a critical chapter in the ongoing struggle between content creators and technology companies regarding the utilization of copyrighted materials in the development of AI applications. The lawsuit underlines the frustration felt by news organizations, which assert that Perplexity is leveraging their content to attract readers while neglecting to compensate the original creators.
According to the filing, the news publishers argue, “This suit is brought by news publishers who seek redress for Perplexity’s brazen scheme to compete for readers while simultaneously freeriding on the valuable content the publishers produce.”
Currently, Perplexity is positioned as a key player aiming to transform the search engine landscape, which has long been dominated by tech giant Google. The startup curates data from various reputable sources and generates concise summaries presented within its platform.
To craft these summaries, Perplexity leverages an array of large language models, employing technology from renowned entities like OpenAI and Meta. While the service claims to provide source citations for the information it compiles, its marketing promotes an experience that allows users to “skip the links,” potentially undermining standard content engagement practices.
In contrast, Google has also adopted a model showcasing AI-generated summaries akin to Perplexity’s offerings. Traditional publishers have begrudgingly accepted this framework, realizing that removing their content from Google’s search results could significantly diminish their online visibility and reach.
The lawsuit emphasizes the difference that news organizations believe should exist between platforms like Perplexity and conventional search engines. They maintain that traditional search engines facilitate the discovery of news rather than serve as substitutes for the content itself.
News Corp’s legal action articulates the pressures faced by journalists who must operate under stringent deadlines and unpredictable circumstances, highlighting the critical need for timely and high-quality reporting. The revenue model for these publications, which largely depends on advertising and subscription sales, supports the assertion that unauthorized usage of their content is detrimental to their financial health.
Specific allegations within the lawsuit claim that Perplexity’s AI system has extensively gathered the publishers’ copyrighted articles and analyses into a database. The startup reportedly employs a technique known as retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) to formulate answers to user queries, which the publishers claim includes significant portions of their original material.
Furthermore, the news organizations assert that in some instances, Perplexity’s outputs replicate their content almost verbatim, classifying this behavior as a clear breach of copyright law. In a statement, News Corp’s CEO Robert Thomson remarked, “Perplexity perpetrates an abuse of intellectual property that harms journalists, writers, publishers and News Corp.”
This legal action aligns News Corp with a growing list of publishers that have litigated against AI companies for similar allegations concerning misuse of their content for both training AI systems and generating summaries. Earlier this month, the New York Times also sent a cease-and-desist order to Perplexity, demanding an end to the use of its articles for AI purposes.
Perplexity has faced scrutiny from other media outlets like Forbes and Wired, which accused it of appropriating their content. In response to these concerns, the company has implemented a revenue-sharing initiative aimed at collaborating with content creators.
While a subset of publishers has begun forming licensing agreements with AI firms willing to compensate for content usage, negotiations frequently become contentious over the perceived value of that content. Many AI developers maintain that they have not violated any laws by accessing news material freely available online.
Earlier this year, News Corp established a multi-year partnership with OpenAI, with Thomson acknowledging OpenAI’s commitment to understanding the principles of integrity and creativity essential for harnessing artificial intelligence’s potential.
Source
www.theguardian.com