Perplexity has cooked up a new way to pay publishers for their content

Perplexity, an AI company, is launching a new revenue-sharing plan for publishers. The plan, called Comet Plus, will pay publishers every time Perplexity's AI assistants use an article to answer a question. Comet Plus costs $5 per month and gives subscribers access to premium content from "a group of trusted publishers and journalists." The plan is designed to account for actions the Comet Agent (included in the Comet browser) takes on websites, which are not considered in existing publisher deals. Publishers will receive 80% of the revenue from Comet Plus, with the remaining 20% allocated to "compute." Perplexity will initially pay participating publishers out of a "$42.5 million revenue pool" that will expand over time as Comet Plus subscriptions grow. It's unclear if this plan replaces Perplexity's existing Publisher Program or will exist alongside it. The article also raises concerns about the viability of this plan, as $4 per month may not be enough for publishers who charge $20 to $30 per month for full access to their content.