Reddit and Perplexity AI clash over law firm's role in data-scraping case
RDDT•Reddit asked a federal judge to bar its former law firm, Proskauer Rose, from representing Perplexity AI in a lawsuit over alleged scraping of Reddit content. Reddit says the firm has a conflict because of earlier work for Reddit; Proskauer disputes that claim.
1. Dispute over counsel
Reddit asked a federal judge in Manhattan to disqualify Proskauer Rose from defending Perplexity AI, arguing that the firm’s past work for Reddit in a whistleblower case created a conflict of interest. Reddit also said Proskauer had earlier vowed not to represent Perplexity. “Proskauer cannot drop Reddit like a hot potato in favor of Perplexity,” Reddit said in its filing.
2. Firm rejects conflict claim
Proskauer said Reddit has no basis to disqualify the firm and that its work on the whistleblower matter does not prevent it from representing Perplexity. The firm also denied agreeing not to represent Perplexity.
3. Underlying copyright case
Reddit sued last year, alleging Perplexity illegally scraped its online forums for data used by its “answer engine” system. Perplexity has denied Reddit’s copyright infringement claims. The case is part of a wave of copyright lawsuits targeting AI companies over their alleged use of protected content for training; Reddit has content licensing deals with Google and others for AI training.
