Reddit accuses Perplexity AI of data theft

Social media app Reddit is suing the artificial intelligence company Perplexity AI and three others for allegedly scraping comments on its platform.

Reddit's NYC office hallway. Source: Reddit.

Reddit’s lawsuit in a New York federal court takes aim at San Francisco-based Perplexity, maker of an AI chatbot and “answer engine” that competes with Google, ChatGPT and others in online search.

Other parties named in the lawsuit include Lithuanian data-scraping firm Oxylabs UAB, a web domain called AWMProxy—described by Reddit as a “former Russian botnet”—and Texas-based startup SerpApi, which lists Perplexity as one of its clients.

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"Our approach remains principled and responsible as we provide factual answers with accurate AI, and we will not tolerate threats against openness and the public interest," Perplexity said in a statement.

Reddit's chief legal officer Ben Lee said: “AI companies are locked in an arms race for quality human content — and that pressure has fuelled an industrial-scale ‘data laundering’ economy."