Reddit sues Perplexity and three firms for content theft

Reddit Sues Perplexity and Three Other Companies for Allegedly Using Its Content Without Paying

In a significant legal move, Reddit has launched a lawsuit against Perplexity, SerApi, OxyLabs, and AWMProxy for allegedly scraping content from its platform without permission. This lawsuit follows similar legal action against AI startup Anthropic, over claims of using Reddit’s data to train its Claude chatbot, according to The New York Times.

As of 2023, Reddit has begun charging companies that seek access to its posts, aiming to monetize the valuable data that can be utilized for AI training. The platform has established licensing agreements with major companies like Google and OpenAI. By scraping data from Reddit without compensation, these companies potentially undermine Reddit’s revenue model, prompting the lawsuit which seeks financial damages and a permanent injunction to prevent the sale of previously scraped material.

Interestingly, while companies like SerApi and OxyLabs aren’t widely recognized, they have built their business on data collection from search results. Perplexity’s involvement, however, is more contentious. The AI firm has previously faced criticism for allegedly copying materials without appropriate licensing and for ignoring the robots.txt protocol that restricts scraping.

According to the lawsuit, Reddit had already issued a cease-and-desist letter to Perplexity, which claimed not to utilize Reddit’s data, even as it continued mentioning the platform in its responses. Reddit asserts it demonstrated that Perplexity was using scraped content by creating a specific “test post” that was only accessible via Google’s search engine, which Perplexity then reproduced in its service.

In response to the lawsuit, Perplexity stated they have not received it yet but committed to defending users’ rights to access public knowledge. They maintain that their approach to providing AI-driven answers remains principled and responsible.

This lawsuit exemplifies Reddit’s commitment to protect its content and illustrates the rising tensions between social media platforms and AI companies over data usage. As the legal battle unfolds, it raises important questions about data ownership and the future of AI training.

What are your thoughts on Reddit’s legal actions? Share your views in the comments below!