Encyclopedia Britannica and Merriam-Webster sue Perplexity for copying their definitions 

Encyclopedia Britannica and Merriam-Webster have filed a lawsuit against Perplexity, an AI web search company, alleging copyright and trademark infringement. The lawsuit claims that Perplexity's "answer engine" scrapes content from Britannica and Merriam-Webster's websites, steals their internet traffic, and plagiarizes their copyrighted material. Britannica also alleges trademark infringement when Perplexity attaches the two companies' names to hallucinated or incomplete content. Perplexity, backed by investors like Jeff Bezos, has been accused of being a "bullshit machine" that steals and recreates original content without proper citations. The company has also been involved in legal disputes with other media outlets, including Forbes, The New York Times, the BBC, and News Corp. While some media companies have joined Perplexity's ad revenue sharing program, including Time magazine and the Los Angeles Times, the lawsuit filed by Britannica and Merriam-Webster highlights the ongoing tension between AI-powered search engines and traditional media companies over the use of copyrighted content.