Amazon is investigating allegations against the AI startup Perplexity AI for purportedly scraping content from news websites without permission. This review was initiated after Amazon spokesperson Samantha Mayowa stated on Friday that the company is examining claims brought forth by the news publication WIRED. WIRED’s investigation highlighted that Perplexity extracted content from sites that explicitly banned such activities.
Perplexity AI leverages Amazon Web Services (AWS) for its operations. Amazon maintains a strict policy against illegal and abusive actions through its terms of service, which all customers, including Perplexity, are obliged to follow. “We often receive complaints about alleged violations from various sources and work with our customers to investigate these claims,” Mayowa remarked.
On the other hand, Perplexity’s spokesperson, Sara Platnick, asserted that their analysis concluded the operations controlled by Perplexity do not infringe on AWS’s service terms.
However, the company has recently faced criticism over allegations of content plagiarism. Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas defended the startup after publishing a news summary that closely mirrored a Forbes investigative piece without acknowledgement or permission. Forbes and The Associated Press have since identified instances where Perplexity’s content closely resembled other media outlets, with AP additionally discovering the invention of fake quotes.
Srinivas countered these accusations by stating in an AP interview that Perplexity does not plagiarize or train its engine on external content. Instead, it aggregates content produced by other AI systems. Nevertheless, he acknowledged Forbes’ request for more conspicuous source attribution, which the company has since implemented.