‘Chicago Tribune’ Sues Perplexity For Alleged Copyright Infringement

The Chicago Tribune Company has joined the parade of
publishers suing the search engine Perplexity AI, Inc. for copyright infringement. 

Tribune Publishing and MediaNews Group filed suit on Thursday, alleging that Perplexity is unlawfully
using the Chicago Tribune’s content to build its AI-driven search engine.

The complaint charges that Perplexity promotes itself as “an intelligent research assistant,
streamlining your information gathering by delivering the precise knowledge you need without the extra steps and clicks.” 

To bypass the “extra steps and
clicks,” the paper adds, “Perplexity accesses as much content as it can from the Chicago Tribune and other sources of trusted, original, and reliable information.”

In August 2024, Perplexity boasted that its answer engine allowed users to “Skip the links” by providing “a single, comprehensive answer that summarizes everything you need to
know,” the Tribune alleges.  

In addition, Perplexity “obtained Chicago Tribune’s content by scraping content directly from the Chicago
Tribune’s website, or via third parties, to use as RAG Content,” it adds.  

The complaint adds, “If the Chicago Tribune and its peers cannot control
the use of their content, their ability to monetize that content will be harmed. With less revenue, news organizations will have fewer journalists able to dedicate time and resources to important,
in-depth stories, which creates a risk that those…