In October of 2025, 📝Reddit filed a lawsuit against 📝Perplexity and three other companies in 📝United States federal court in New York, alleging unlawful scraping of Reddit content to train Perplexity’s AI “answer engine.” The complaint also names Oxylabs, AWMProxy, and SerpApi, asserting they circumvented anti-scraping measures to obtain data. Reddit says it has licensed content to 📝Google, 📝OpenAI, and others, but that Perplexity lacks a license and worked with at least one scraper. Perplexity said its approach is principled and that it opposes threats to openness. The suit follows Reddit’s earlier case against 📝Anthropic, according to Reuters.
As someone who regularly asks Perplexity “what does Reddit think about...” to synthesize threads across many 📝subreddits, I believe the core allegation is plausible. Its answers often reflect that community texture I’m seeking. At the same time, this feels like a negotiation lever: they loudly threatened to sue OpenAI, then announced a licensing deal. I read this as pressure toward paid access rather than a categorical stance against AI. I’m torn: I want the synthesis, but I also want the forums that generate it to be compensated and sustainable.