Reddit Sues Perplexity AI Over Alleged Data Scraping Scandal
Reddit has filed a lawsuit against artificial intelligence firm Perplexity AI, claiming it illegally scraped user posts to train its AI model. The case marks another major clash between social media platforms and AI companies over data rights.
The Allegations and Defendants
The complaint, filed in a New York federal court, also names three co-defendants. These include Oxylabs, a Lithuanian data scraper, AWMProxy, a “former Russian botnet,” and Texas-based SerpApi. Reddit alleges that these entities helped Perplexity extract data from its platform.
According to Reddit, the companies disguised their web scrapers as regular users to access copyrighted material. They allegedly hid their identities and masked their locations to avoid detection.
Responses and Broader Impact
Perplexity denied all allegations, accusing Reddit of “extortion” and opposing an open internet. Meanwhile, SerpApi told CNBC it “strongly disagrees” with Reddit’s claims and plans to defend itself in court.
This lawsuit is part of a wider battle between content owners and AI developers over the use of copyrighted data. In June, Reddit also filed a similar lawsuit against AI startup Anthropic.
Reddit’s Chief Legal Officer, Ben Lee, said AI firms are “locked in an arms race for quality human content.” He added that this pressure has created an “industrial-scale data laundering economy.”
As the case unfolds, it could set a major precedent for how AI companies access and use online data in the future.
