Lawsuit tracker
Reddit v. Perplexity
Reddit, Inc. v. SerpApi, LLC, Oxylabs UAB, AWMProxy and Perplexity AI, Inc., No. 1:25-cv-08736 (S.D.N.Y.)
| Plaintiffs | Reddit, Inc. |
|---|---|
| Defendants | Perplexity AI, Inc.; SerpApi, LLC; Oxylabs UAB; AWMProxy |
| Court | U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Judge Paul A. Engelmayer) |
| Filed | 2025-10-22 |
| Status | Active |
| Content type | platform data |
| Last updated | 2026-07-21 |
The claims
Digital Millennium Copyright Act claims over circumvention of Reddit’s technical protections, plus state-law claims including unjust enrichment. Reddit seeks damages, an injunction, and a ban on use or sale of previously scraped data.
What has happened
Reddit’s second scraping suit targets the supply chain, not just an AI company. Filed in October 2025, it names three scraping intermediaries, SerpApi, Oxylabs and AWMProxy, alongside Perplexity. The theory: because Reddit locked down direct access, the intermediaries harvested Reddit content at what the complaint calls industrial scale by scraping Google search results, masking their identities to evade blocks. Perplexity, Reddit alleges, bought that scraped data from at least one of them and surfaces Reddit content in its answer engine. Perplexity denies training on Reddit content and says it summarizes and cites public discussions. Reddit amended its complaint in February 2026. Perplexity and SerpApi moved to dismiss in March 2026; Perplexity argues it sits downstream of any circumvention, that the DMCA’s anti-circumvention provision has no secondary liability, and that buying scraped data is not itself a violation. Reddit filed a consolidated opposition on April 17, 2026.
Key developments
- 2025-10-22 — Reddit sues Perplexity, SerpApi, Oxylabs and AWMProxy in the Southern District of New York over scraping of Reddit content via Google search results.
- 2026-02 — Reddit files a first amended complaint against all four defendants.
- 2026-03 — Perplexity and SerpApi move to dismiss; Perplexity calls itself a downstream purchaser that cannot be liable for others’ circumvention.
- 2026-04-17 — Reddit files a consolidated opposition to both motions.
- 2026-06-30 — Argument date set on the motions to dismiss before Judge Engelmayer. Decision pending.
Why it matters for training data
The first major case aimed squarely at the gray-market data supply chain: proxy networks and search-scraping APIs that resell platform content their customers cannot get directly. If DMCA liability reaches the buyer of scraped data, “we bought it from a vendor” stops working as insulation, and provenance warranties in data contracts become load-bearing. If Perplexity’s downstream defense wins, pressure shifts to the intermediaries and to contract-based suits like Reddit v. Anthropic. Either outcome reshapes pricing for licensed platform data.
Sources
- Docket, No. 1:25-cv-08736 (CourtListener)
- Bloomberg: Reddit sues Perplexity, others over alleged data scraping
- Chat GPT Is Eating the World: first amended complaint (February 2026)
- Chat GPT Is Eating the World: Reddit opposes motions to dismiss (April 2026)
Deeper analysis
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