BBC mulls dragging Perplexity AI to court over unauthorized content use

British public broadcaster, the BBC has warned it will sue Perplexity, the AI search engine, for allegedly harvesting its content without permission.

In a strongly worded letter seen by the Financial Times, the broadcaster demands that Perplexity halt all scraping of BBC articles, erase any existing copies, and submit “a proposal for financial compensation.”

Failure to comply, the BBC says, will result in an injunction to stop the startup from using its material.

BBC demands an injunction from Perplexity

This is the first time the BBC has formally moved to defend its content against an AI outfit. Perplexity, based in San Francisco, doesn’t build its own language models like OpenAI or Google. Instead, it taps into existing ones, serving as a front‑end that pulls data, sometimes verbatim, from sites across the web.

The BBC insists that Perplexity’s “default AI model” has been trained on entire chunks of its journalism, crossing from legitimate innovation into copyright infringement.

“Perplexity’s tool directly competes with the BBC’s own services, circumventing the need for users to access those services,” said the BBC in their letter to the AI firm.

“It is therefore highly damaging to the BBC, injuring the BBC’s reputation with audiences — including UK licence fee-payers who fund the BBC — and undermining their trust in the BBC.”

BBC letter.

Addressed to Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas, the BBC’s missive reveals evidence suggesting wholesale copying of BBC text into the startup’s AI training sets. The broadcaster wants the scraping to stop right away and for the firm to delete any cached BBC content.

If Perplexity does not comply, the BBC says it will pursue a court‑ordered injunction, and possibly damages for unauthorized use of its intellectual property.

Perplexity has pushed back, calling the BBC’s claims “manipulative and opportunistic.” The startup argues it merely provides an interface for existing models and points the finger at model providers rather than itself.

In its statement to the FT, Perplexity accused the BBC of misunderstanding technology, the internet and IP law.

BBC joins other publishers clashing with AI firms

The BBC’s legal threat arrives as UK regulators consider a so‑called “opt‑out” regime that would allow AI firms to scrape copyrighted work unless publishers explicitly object. Media leaders, including BBC Director‑General Tim Davie, have warned that such a system would drain the £125 billion creative industry of its value.

“We need to protect our national intellectual property.”

Davie.

“If we drift on, we will be in crisis,” Davie proclaimed at a recent conference. Other publishers are already taking a stand.

In October, the New York Times (NYT) issued a cease‑and‑desist order to Perplexity, demanding it stop using NYT content in its AI models.

Dow Jones, owner of The Wall Street Journal, filed a lawsuit accusing Perplexity of “massive illegal copying” and “free‑riding” on its journalism. The BBC itself has begun registering its news site content in the United States to claim statutory damages for unauthorized use.

In response to mounting pressure, Perplexity launched a revenue‑sharing program, but many argue it comes too late. Major outlets like the Financial Times, Axel Springer, Hearst and News Corp have all signed licensing deals with OpenAI.

Reuters agreed terms with Meta, while the Daily Mail’s parent struck a pact with ProRata.ai. Perplexity, however, remains without such formal arrangements.

At the heart of the debate is a fundamental question: should AI developers freely mine the web for data, or must they pay for every byte of protected content? Proponents of open scraping argue that AI advancement depends on unfettered access to online information. Critics counter that unlicensed data harvesting undermines the viability of professional journalism.

As the BBC and Perplexity prepare for what could become a landmark court fight, the outcome may rewrite the rules of engagement between AI and content owners.

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