Reddit Sues Multiple AI Firms Over Large-Scale Data Scraping

Reddit filed a lawsuit against Perplexity AI and other companies at the end of October 2025, accusing them of engaging in industrial-scale scraping and copying of user comments without permission to train AI models. The case was submitted to a US federal court, with Reddit arguing that the practice severely violates copyright protections and undermines its commercial interests.

According to Reddit, Perplexity and other AI developers carried out data collection far beyond the scope of the platform’s official API services, using user-generated content in prohibited ways. The company stressed that this large-scale harvesting aimed to supply vast quantities of real-time data to train AI systems, causing significant damage to Reddit’s business model, particularly given its multi-hundred-million-dollar licensing deals signed in 2024.

The lawsuit has implications that extend well beyond this case, raising fundamental questions about the relationship between AI companies and online platforms. Reddit emphasised that user posts constitute valuable and protected content that can only be used under licensing agreements. The outcome could set a precedent for regulating AI training data sources and may define the future legal framework between technology companies and content providers.

Sources:

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Reddit sues AI company Perplexity and others for ‘industrial-scale’ scraping of user comments

Reddit has sued Perplexity AI and three other entities for allegedly scraping user comments for commercial gain.

AP NewsMATT O’BRIEN

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Reddit accuses Perplexity of stealing user posts, expanding data rights battle with AI industry

In its latest data-rights battle with the AI industry, Reddit has launched a suit against Perplexity alleging the AI company illegally scraped its users’ posts.

CNBCDylan Butts

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