BBC Threatens to Sue Perplexity AI for Copyright Infringement, Sparks Legal Tensions

The British Broadcasting Corporation has threatened to sue AI startup Perplexity for using its content to train its AI model. According to Reuters, BBC’s threat to sue Perplexity is the latest by a news organization.

Growing Concern

BBC’s threat to sue Perplexity for scraping points to the growing concern over unauthorised use of copyrighted content by AI firms without compensation. In a letter sent to Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas, the BBC said it had evidence that the San Francisco-based AI startup had used articles published by the news broadcaster to train its AI models.

The London-based news outlet threatened to seek legal injunction if Perplexity fails to delete current copies being used to train its AI systems or does not stop scraping its content. The BBC said it would get an injunction if the AI startup fails to submit a financial compensation proposal for the abuse of its intellectual property.

A report published by FT showed that the British broadcaster claimed that Perplexity reproduced some of its articles exactly as they were. The BBC also said that links to its website have appeared in its AI search results.

Manipulative Claims

Perplexity has responded to the copyright bleach claims, terming them ‘opportunistic and manipulative’. According to the AI startup, the British broadcaster “a fundamental misunderstanding of technology, the internet and intellectual property law.”

The AI startup added that “the claims also show how far the BBC is willing to go to preserve Google‘s monopoly for its own self-interest.”

However, the BBC has accused AI search engines of eliminating context or adding factual inaccuracies from its content. According to the broadcaster, this promotes impartial journalism and damages its reputation.

“It is highly damaging to the BBC, injuring the BBC’s reputation with audiences – including UK licence fee-payers who fund the BBC, and undermining their trust in the BBC,” the broadcaster said.

This is the first time that the British broadcaster has engaged in an escalating discussion about AI and copyright matters. Large companies in the creative industry have accused tech companies of using their content to train AI models without permission contrary to intellectual property laws.

Not the First Time

This is not the first time that Perplexity has been accused of AI scaping by media companies. Last year, the New York Times issued a cease and desist notice to the AI startup. In the notice, the news outlet demanded that Perplexity stops using its content to train its generative AI.

In the US, Perplexity has been sued by the New York Post and the Wall Street Journal for copyright infringement. News publishers Forbes and Wired have previously accused the AI startup of plagiarizing their content. Following these accusations, Perplexity developed a revenue sharing program to address concerns raised by the publishers.
Like Google’s Gemini and ChatGPT, Perplexity generates information by searching the internet. The AI startup has been funded by Nvidia, SoftBank Group, and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Currently, over 30 million people use Perplexity.

Early this year, Nvidia and Perplexity came together to provide localized, sovereign AI models to EU users. The Nvidia Perplexity partnership will see the two companies work with over a dozen AI companies in Europe and the Middle East to refine their AI technologies and share them with local businesses.

The BBC relies on licence fees to finance its operations. Already, the broadcaster has held discussions with Amazon regarding licensing its content for AI. The decision to sue Perplexity comes at a time when the news outlet is engaging ministers about its license fee funding model and its future. For the BBC, any new AI license deal will be an important source of revenue considering that it has been forced to reduce its budget in order to balance its books.