Reddit sues Perplexity for allegedly stealing user data to train its AI ‘answer engine’

Reddit has filed a lawsuit against artificial intelligence startup Perplexity, accusing it of unlawfully scraping Reddit’s data to power its AI-driven “answer engine.” The complaint, lodged in a New York federal court on October 22, also names three data-scraping firms — Oxylabs (Lithuania), AWMProxy (Russia), and SerpApi (Texas) — which Reddit claims helped Perplexity bypass its data protection systems. According to Reddit, these companies engaged in systematic scraping to extract data that Perplexity “desperately needs” to train and operate its AI systems.

The case marks another major clash between content platforms and AI firms accused of exploiting copyrighted material without permission. Reddit argues that its content, generated across millions of “subreddits,” is one of the most valuable and frequently referenced sources for generative AI models. The company says Perplexity gained unauthorised access to billions of Reddit posts despite not having a licensing agreement, unlike firms such as Google and OpenAI that have paid for legitimate access.

This is Reddit’s second high-profile lawsuit against an AI startup this year, following one filed against Anthropic in June. Ben Lee, Reddit’s chief legal officer, said the issue extends beyond a single case, calling it evidence of a growing “data laundering” economy driven by AI companies racing to acquire quality human-generated content. He stated, “AI companies are locked in an arms race for quality human content—and that pressure has fuelled an industrial-scale ‘data laundering’ economy.”