BBC, one of the biggest publications in the world, has threatened legal action against the AI search engine startup Perplexity. The company has been accused of using its content without permission to train artificial intelligence models. According to a letter seen by the Financial Times, the BBC told Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas that it may seek an injunction unless the company stops scraping BBC content, deletes existing copies used for AI training, and submits a proposal for financial compensation for the alleged misuse of its intellectual property.
In response to these allegations, Perplexity has responded by calling the BBC’s claims “manipulative and opportunistic” and said the broadcaster misunderstands technology, the internet, and intellectual property law. The dispute comes as more publishers raise concerns about AI companies using their work to build and train new technologies without clear permission or compensation.
