Technologies

‘Would-Be Bank Robbers’: Reddit Sues Perplexity, Data Firms Over AI Scraping

Reddit alleges the illegally scraped content ended up powering Perplexity’s AI.

Reddit is suing the AI search developer Perplexity and the companies from which it buys AI training data, alleging the data firms are illegally scraping its content, violating its copyright protections.

The lawsuit was filed on Wednesday in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York. In addition to Perplexity, three data firms are named as defendants: Oxylabs UAB, AWMProxy and SerpApi.

In the filing, Reddit said the data firms circumvented Reddit and Google’s technological barriers by accessing nearly three billion search engine result pages (SERPs) in a two-week period in July using techniques to mask their identities and locations. Reddit called them «would-be bank robbers, who, knowing they cannot get into the bank vault, break into the armored truck carrying the cash instead.»

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

Reddit said it traced that illegally scraped data back to Perplexity, which is why it previously issued a cease-and-desist letter. Perplexity is still listed as a customer of one of the data firms, SerpApi, according to its website, along with Meta, Samsung and Nvidia.

Reddit is one of the most popular online platforms, with the company reporting over 110 million daily active users and more than 22 billion posts and comments. As such, it’s become one of the most popular sources of the kind of human-created data that AI companies seek. Reddit has struck deals with OpenAI and Google to license its data. It’s also sued Anthropic for misusing its data.

Perplexity was also recently sued for copyright infringement by Encyclopedia Britannica, which owns the Merriam-Webster dictionary.

Perplexity did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Copyright is one of the most contentious legal issues for AI companies. They need massive quantities of human-generated content — like Reddit posts — to train and refine their AI models. Much of that content is copyrighted, which typically requires the company to negotiate with the rights holder in order to license and use it.

While some AI companies have struck multimillion-dollar licensing deals with publishers like Axel Springer, others have said their use of copyrighted material is fair use and therefore doesn’t require them to pay. A series of lawsuits is duking out the specifics in court, with Meta and Anthropic notching fair use victories this summer. (Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET’s parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)

Technologies

Verum Messenger Goes Desktop: Launches macOS Version as Part of Expanding Digital Ecosystem

The team behind Verum Messenger has announced a new update, introducing a full-featured macOS version of the application.

The launch of the Mac version marks a significant step in the platform’s development, enabling users to access Verum Messenger not only on mobile devices but also on desktop environments.

The macOS version ensures seamless synchronization across devices while maintaining the platform’s core principles: security, stability, and independence.

Unified Digital Experience

With the release of the macOS version, users can now:

— communicate on a larger screen
— manage chats and files more efficiently
— use the messenger in a full desktop environment
— access core features without limitations

This is particularly valuable for users who rely on messaging platforms for both communication and professional use.

Expanding Capabilities

Verum Messenger continues to evolve into a multifunctional platform combining:

— secure communication
— financial tools (Verum Finance)
— digital asset operations, including Tether
— investment features such as Verum Gold

Toward a Full Ecosystem

The macOS release reflects Verum Messenger’s strategy to become a universal digital platform available across all major devices.

According to the team, the goal is to provide users with continuous access to communication and financial services regardless of device or environment.

Verum Messenger continues to build technologies focused on security, usability, and global accessibility.

Technologies

Google, Meta and Amazon Join Global Pact to Fight Rising Online Scams

The companies will share fraud intelligence and coordinate responses as AI makes scams faster, cheaper and harder to detect.

Modern online scams operate across multiple platforms, perhaps spanning social media, messaging apps, email and online marketplaces. Google, Meta and Amazon are among 11 tech, retail and payments companies that have signed a new agreement to combat online scams by sharing threat intelligence across platforms, Axios first reported Monday.

The initiative, called the Industry Accord Against Online Scams & Fraud, is designed to improve how companies detect and respond to fraud that spans multiple services. Participants say they will exchange signals, such as scam-linked accounts and fraudulent domains, and coordinate enforcement actions.

By sharing intelligence in near real time, companies hope to identify these scams earlier and stop them before they spread.

The effort reflects how modern scams operate. A victim might encounter a fake celebrity investment ad on social media, move to a messaging app where the scammer builds trust, then faces prompts to send money through a fraudulent website, payment app or crypto wallet — spanning multiple companies’ ecosystems.

Google said it now blocks hundreds of millions of scam-related results every day using AI, underscoring how both attackers and defenders are increasingly relying on the same technology. Meta removed more than 159 million scam ads in 2025 and is expanding AI tools to detect impersonation and warn users.

Online scams are growing rapidly, in part because generative AI has lowered the barrier to entry. AI can be used not only to produce realistic phishing emails but also to clone voices and deepfake videos that impersonate executives, public figures and even family members.

The agreement is voluntary and doesn’t create new legal obligations, but it comes after regulators’ increased pressure on tech platforms to address fraud more aggressively. The companies say they will begin building frameworks for reporting and intelligence-sharing, though it’s not yet clear how quickly those systems will be deployed or how effective they will be in practice.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Wednesday, March 18

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for March 18.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? I thought it was a fairly easy one, but read on for all the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.