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BBC Threatens Legal Action Against AI Startup Perplexity Over Content Scraping, FT Reports

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The BBC has threatened to take legal action against AI startup Perplexity, accusing the company of using BBC content to train its “default AI model,” according to the Financial Times report on Friday. This marks the British broadcaster as the latest news organization to allege content scraping by the AI firm.

The BBC may seek an injunction unless Perplexity stops scraping its content, deletes any existing copies used for AI training, and submits “a proposal for financial compensation” to address the alleged misuse of its intellectual property, the FT said, citing a letter sent to Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas.

The broadcaster confirmed the report in a statement to Reuters.

Perplexity has faced similar accusations from other media outlets including Forbes and Wired for plagiarizing their content. In response, the startup has launched a revenue-sharing program aimed at addressing publishers’ concerns.

In October last year, the New York Times sent Perplexity a “cease and desist” letter demanding the company stop using its content for generative AI.

Since the rise of ChatGPT, publishers have expressed concerns about AI chatbots combing the internet to extract information and generate summarized content for users.

According to the FT report, the BBC said parts of its content were reproduced verbatim by Perplexity, and links to the BBC website have appeared in the AI startup’s search results.

Perplexity described the BBC’s claims as “manipulative and opportunistic,” stating that the broadcaster has “a fundamental misunderstanding of technology, the internet and intellectual property law,” in a statement to Reuters.

Perplexity’s service provides information by searching the internet, similar to ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini. The startup is backed by notable investors including Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, AI leader Nvidia, and Japan’s SoftBank Group.

The Wall Street Journal reported last month that Perplexity is in advanced talks to raise $500 million in a funding round that would value the company at $14 billion.

Getty Images Defends Copyright Lawsuit Against Stability AI, Says It Won’t Harm AI Industry

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Getty Images’ landmark UK copyright lawsuit against Stability AI kicked off at London’s High Court on Monday, with Getty firmly rejecting Stability AI’s claim that the case threatens the broader generative AI sector.

The Seattle-based visual content company alleges that Stability AI unlawfully scraped millions of Getty’s images to train its Stable Diffusion system, which generates images from text prompts. Getty has also filed a parallel lawsuit against Stability AI in the United States.

Stability AI, backed by hundreds of millions in funding and a recent investment from advertising giant WPP, denies infringing Getty’s rights. A spokesperson emphasized that the case concerns “technological innovation and freedom of ideas,” arguing that their tools enable artists to build on collective human knowledge—a core aspect of fair use and freedom of expression.

However, Stability AI’s lawyer described Getty’s lawsuit as “an overt threat” to both Stability AI’s business and the wider AI industry.

Getty’s legal team countered that their case centers on protecting intellectual property, not hindering AI development. Lawyer Lindsay Lane told the court, “It is not a battle between creatives and technology… copyright and database rights are critical to AI’s advancement. The issue arises when AI companies use protected works without payment.”

This case is among several global lawsuits addressing the use of copyrighted material to train AI models since the rise of generative AI tools like ChatGPT. The creative sector is actively debating the legal and ethical implications, with notable artists calling for stronger protections.

Legal experts say the outcome will be pivotal in defining copyright’s role in AI, potentially influencing future government policy. Rebecca Newman, a UK lawyer not involved in the case, said, “We’re in uncharted legal territory… this case will set important boundaries on copyright monopolies in the AI era.” Similarly, Cerys Wyn Davies noted the ruling could significantly impact market practices and the UK’s appeal for AI development.

Brave Software Sues News Corp Over Copyright Dispute

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In a significant legal battle, Brave Software has filed a lawsuit against News Corp in response to a cease-and-desist letter sent by the media conglomerate. The letter warned Brave that it faced potential litigation for allegedly “scraping” copyrighted content from News Corp’s websites, including those of The Wall Street Journal and New York Post. The suit was filed on Wednesday night in San Francisco federal court.

Brave, the company behind the Brave Search engine, argues that its actions are covered under the “fair use” doctrine, asserting that indexing website content is a necessary practice for search engines to operate. The company also contends that News Corp’s actions could undermine advancements in generative AI, claiming that chatbots such as ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini rely on search engine responses, which could be impacted by this dispute.

According to Brave, its market share is a fraction of the search industry, with its search engine holding less than 1% of the market, while Google dominates with nearly 90%, followed by Microsoft’s Bing. Brave accuses News Corp and its partners of attempting to “bully” the company and further cementing the already high barriers to entry in the search engine market.

In a public statement, Robert Thomson, CEO of News Corp, rejected Brave’s claims, labeling the company’s actions as “piratical, parasitical practices” disguised as traditional search. He emphasized that the unauthorized use and sale of News Corp’s copyrighted content to AI engines and other clients is not fair use, but a blatant violation of intellectual property rights.

This legal battle adds to the growing tensions between publishers and tech companies over the use of copyrighted content in support of AI technologies. News Corp has previously filed lawsuits against other companies, including Perplexity AI, for alleged unauthorized copying of its articles.

In its lawsuit, Brave is seeking a declaration from the court that its use of copyrighted News Corp content for search indexing purposes is not a form of infringement. The case highlights the broader conflict between content creators, who argue for protection of their intellectual property, and technology companies, which push for more access to such content to power AI developments.