Encyclopaedia Britannica and Merriam-Webster claim copyright infringement by AI startup Perplexity

The lawsuit was filed in Manhattan federal court. In it, publishers describe in detail how Perplexity uses its own software tool PerplexityBot, to crawl sites and collect content. In the plaintiffs' opinion, the problem arises at two stages. First is data collection, when the bot scans and copies articles. Second is response formation, when the system reproduces or very closely retells protected texts in response to user queries.

In their statement, companies emphasize that in many cases these are verbatim or partially verbatim excerpts. In other situations text is changed, but the structure and content are still easily recognized. In their view, these aren't random coincidences but a systematic approach to using others' content.

A separate block of claims concerns the technical side. Publishers claim that third-party tools and Perplexity programs disregard or get around limitations like robots.txt. These measures are designed to make it illegal to duplicate digital content without authorization.

Businesses also highlight another issue. They claim that Perplexity occasionally accuses them of using false or erroneous information. In the realm of artificial intelligence, this is referred to as "hallucinations," but for well-known businesses, it appears to be disseminating false information under their names.

Representatives from Perplexity have not made any public remarks on the matter. However, this is not the company's first legal battle. Rupert Murdoch's media conglomerate, Dow Jones and the New York Post, filed a lawsuit against it in the same court in 2024.

Perplexity first surfaced in late 2022 and markets itself as a tool for rapid information analysis and search. The firm makes it clear that it aims to compete with the advertising and search offerings of the big players in the industry. The firm quickly garnered large investments, including early support from Jeff Bezos. The company was valued at tens of billions of dollars in recent fundraising rounds.

The media reportedly reported in 2025 that Apple and Meta were considering acquiring Perplexity. This just serves to highlight how serious this business has grown in the marketplace.

It's important to note that OpenAI and Microsoft are still facing a protracted court battle in the Southern District of New York. It has to do with training language models with journalistic content. A portion of the allegations have already been rejected by Judge Sidney Stein, but the majority of the case can move forward, including a jury trial.

In the end, this disagreement illustrates a straightforward point. The market for artificial intelligence is expanding more quickly than game rules. Additionally, media and publishers are increasingly defending their rights to their own content as digital companies fight for users and investments. The boundary between innovation and copyright infringement is now being established by courts.