Chicago Tribune sues Perplexity

The Chicago Tribune has initiated legal proceedings against the AI search engine Perplexity, claiming copyright infringement. The lawsuit, which was filed in a federal court in New York on Thursday, alleges that Perplexity has been using the Tribune's content without authorization. According to the complaint reviewed by TechCrunch, the Tribune's legal team reached out to Perplexity in mid-October to inquire whether the AI platform was utilizing its material. In response, Perplexity's attorneys stated that the company does not train its models using the Tribune's content but acknowledged that it 'may receive non-verbatim factual summaries.' However, the Tribune's lawyers contend that Perplexity is delivering its content in verbatim form. The lawsuit also highlights concerns regarding Perplexity's Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) technology, which is designed to mitigate inaccuracies by utilizing verified data sources. The Tribune insists that Perplexity is incorporating its articles into its RAG systems without permission, suggesting that the content was scraped unlawfully. Additionally, the lawsuit claims that Perplexity's Comet browser circumvents the Tribune's paywall to provide extensive summaries of its articles. This legal action is part of a broader trend, as the Tribune is among 17 news organizations linked to MediaNews Group and Tribune Publishing that filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft earlier this year concerning model training materials. Another set of nine publishers also initiated legal proceedings against similar entities in November. As various creators continue to challenge AI model developers over the use of their work, the resolution of these cases could set important precedents regarding the legal responsibilities associated with RAG technologies. Perplexity has not yet responded to requests for comments regarding this latest lawsuit. The company is also facing similar legal challenges, including a suit from Reddit in October and ongoing litigation from Dow Jones. Furthermore, while Amazon has not filed a lawsuit, it has issued a cease and desist letter over AI-related shopping technologies.