New York Times Sends Cease-and-Desist To Bezos-Backed AI Startup Perplexity Over Content Use

The New York Times has issued a cease-and-desist notice to Perplexity, an AI startup backed by Jeff Bezos, demanding it stop using its content for AI-generated summaries. This legal action marks another battle in the escalating tensions between news publishers and AI companies over content usage.

Perplexity, launched two years ago, offers AI-powered search results similar to Google but with AI-generated summaries. The Times argues that Perplexity is violating its copyright by using its journalism without permission. The publisher says Perplexity has ignored restrictions designed to prevent unauthorized crawling of its website, despite earlier assurances to stop such practices. Perplexity's CEO, Aravind Srinivas, stated the company is open to collaborating with the Times and will respond to the legal notice by the end of October.

The conflict highlights broader concerns among publishers about the impact of generative AI technologies on their business models. News outlets, including Forbes and Condé Nast, have raised similar issues with Perplexity, claiming the startup uses its content without proper licensing. While some media companies have struck lucrative deals with OpenAI, Perplexity's licensing terms have been less attractive to publishers.

Perplexity, which processed 340 million searches in September, is still a minor player compared to Google but has been sending increasing traffic to news sites, including an eightfold rise in referrals to the Times over the past year. The startup plans to introduce ads and share revenue with content providers, aiming to balance the value exchange between AI platforms and news publishers.