Reddit and Perplexity AI clash over law firm's role in data-scraping case

By Reuters News

By Mike Scarcella

WASHINGTON, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Reddit has asked a federal judge to block its former law firm Proskauer Rose from defending Perplexity AI in a lawsuit alleging the AI search startup company stole Reddit content, arguing it was dropped like a "hot potato" by lawyers who owed it client loyalties.

In a court filing on Friday in Manhattan federal court, Reddit said Proskauer has a conflict of interest due to its past work for Reddit in a whistleblower case. Reddit also said Proskauer earlier vowed it would not represent Perplexity.

"Proskauer cannot drop Reddit like a hot potato in favor of Perplexity," Reddit said in its filing.

Proskauer contends Reddit has no basis to disqualify the firm. In a court filing on Friday, the firm said its work for Reddit in the whistleblower matter did not create a conflict of interest that should bar the firm from representing Perplexity now. It also denied it ever agreed not to represent Perplexity.

Reddit declined to comment other than to refer to its court filings. Perplexity and Proskauer did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The case is part of a wave of copyright cases targeting AI companies over their alleged use of protected content for AI training. Proskauer argues Perplexity should be able to rely on its chosen counsel in a case exposing it to large potential damages.

Reddit filed the lawsuit last year, alleging Perplexity illegally scraped its online forums for data it needs for its online "answer engine" system. Perplexity has denied Reddit’s copyright infringement claims. Reddit has content licensing deals with Google and others for AI training.

The case is Reddit Inc v. SerpApi LLC et al, US District Court for ​the Southern District of New York, No. 1:25-cv-08736.

For Reddit: Reid Bolton, Matthew Ford and William Gohl of Bartlit Beck

For non-party Proskauer: Kevin Perra of Proskauer Rose



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