News Outlets’ Perplexity AI Suits Strike at Existential Threat

AI search’s existential threat to news, as painted by The New York Times’ latest copyright complaint against Perplexity AI Inc., stands out amid the battles raging between the tech and content industries.

New York Times Co.’s December lawsuit doesn’t just claim Perplexity AI Inc. free rides by training its AI-search engine with copyrighted material and can replicate its work when prompted. It goes further to say Perplexity, whose answer is due Feb. 27, proudly proclaimed its tool a direct substitute with a “skip the links” tagline—an explicit invitation to avoid patronizing the organization that produced the work it uses.

It’s …