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Google settles Google Assistant privacy lawsuit for $68 million

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Google has agreed to pay $68 million to settle a lawsuit alleging that its Google Assistant voice service improperly recorded private conversations, violating users’ privacy. The proposed class action settlement was filed in federal court in San Jose, California, and awaits approval from a U.S. district judge.

The lawsuit accused Google, a unit of Alphabet, of recording and sharing conversations when Google Assistant was unintentionally activated, a phenomenon known as “false accepts.” Plaintiffs said these recordings were later used to deliver targeted advertising, even though users had not deliberately triggered the assistant with hot words such as “Hey Google” or “Okay Google.”

Google denied any wrongdoing but chose to settle to avoid prolonged litigation and associated costs, according to court documents. The settlement applies to users who purchased Google devices or experienced false activations dating back to May 18, 2016. Attorneys for the plaintiffs may seek up to one-third of the settlement amount for legal fees.

Amazon Sues Perplexity Over AI Shopping Agent That Secretly Accessed Customer Accounts

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Amazon has filed a lawsuit against Perplexity AI, accusing the fast-growing startup of illegally accessing Amazon customer accounts through its automated “agentic” shopping feature. The complaint, filed Tuesday in a U.S. District Court in California, claims Perplexity’s Comet browser and AI agent disguised automated activity as human browsing to place orders on behalf of users.

The dispute marks a major flashpoint in the debate over regulating AI “agents” — autonomous digital assistants that can navigate websites, make purchases, and perform other online tasks on users’ behalf. Amazon said Perplexity’s technology posed security risks and had repeatedly ignored requests to stop unauthorized activity on its platform.

“Perplexity’s misconduct must end,” Amazon said in its filing, adding that the startup’s software “purposely disguised its automated activity” and that its actions were “no less unlawful” than a physical break-in.

Perplexity, whose AI tools have surged in popularity amid the rise of conversational assistants, previously dismissed Amazon’s complaints, calling them an attempt to stifle innovation and protect its ad-driven business model. “Bullying is when large corporations use legal threats to block innovation,” the startup said in an earlier blog post.

Amazon argued that Perplexity’s AI agent interfered with its ability to deliver a personalized shopping experience, undermining systems built over decades. The company added that third-party apps making purchases for users must act transparently and respect site policies.

Perplexity said its Comet AI assistant allows users to shop and compare products autonomously, while keeping login credentials stored locally, not on company servers. It argued that consumers have the right to choose their own AI shopping tools — a stance that could shape future legal battles over the limits of AI automation in e-commerce.

Reddit Sues Perplexity for Allegedly Scraping Data to Train AI Search Engine

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Reddit has filed a lawsuit in a New York federal court against artificial intelligence startup Perplexity, accusing it of unlawfully scraping Reddit data to train its AI-based “answer engine.” The complaint also names three other companies — Lithuania-based Oxylabs, Russia-based AWMProxy, and Texas-based SerpApi — alleging that they bypassed Reddit’s data protection systems to extract massive amounts of content.

According to Reddit, Perplexity “desperately needs” the stolen data to strengthen its search capabilities. The platform, home to thousands of user-driven “subreddit” communities, said its content is one of the most frequently cited sources for AI-generated responses. Reddit has legally licensed its data to OpenAI, Google, and other companies, but claims Perplexity acted without authorization.

The lawsuit follows similar cases across the tech industry involving unauthorized use of copyrighted materials to train AI models. Reddit had previously sued Anthropic in June for similar conduct. Perplexity rejected the accusations, calling its methods “principled and responsible.” Meanwhile, Reddit’s chief legal officer Ben Lee accused AI firms of engaging in “industrial-scale data laundering.”

Reddit is seeking financial damages and a court order preventing Perplexity from continuing to use its content.