Stop using our content: NYT to Bezos-backed AI start-up Perplexity
The New York Times (NYT) has sent a "cease and desist" notice to Jeff Bezos-backed generative AI start-up Perplexity, the Wall Street Journal reported. The notice claims that Perplexity's use of NYT content to generate summaries and other outputs, violates its copyright rights. The claim was made via the law firm representing NYT, which accused Perplexity and its associates of unjust enrichment from unauthorized use of their content.
Perplexity's response and NYT's ongoing legal battles
Perplexity's CEO, Aravind Srinivas, is yet to respond to Reuters' request for comment on the issue. However, in a previous interview, he had said he was willing to work with all publishers including NYT. He stressed that his company doesn't want to be perceived as an enemy. This dispute comes as NYT continues to battle OpenAI in court over similar allegations of unauthorized content use.
Content access methods questioned
In its notice to Perplexity, NYT has sought information on how the start-up is accessing its website despite taking measures to prevent such actions. The letter also noted that Perplexity had previously promised to stop using "crawling" technology but as of October 2, NYT content was still appearing in Perplexity's search results.
Perplexity's revenue-sharing program and growth
In light of past allegations of content plagiarism from media outlets such as Forbes and WIRED, Perplexity launched a revenue-sharing program. The start-up promised to share up to 25% of ad revenue with publishing partners, whose content it uses. Supported by Bezos, Perplexity has grown rapidly since its launch two years ago, doubling its valuation to around $1 billion earlier this year.
