Despite fewer clicks, copyright fights, and sometimes iffy answers, AI could unlock new ways to summon all the world’s knowledge.

The BBC is taking legal action against Perplexity AI, a San Francisco-based startup, for allegedly scraping BBC content without permission to train its artificial intelligence models. The BBC has sent a letter to Perplexity's CEO, Aravind Srinivas, demanding that the company stop scraping BBC content and delete any copies of the broadcaster's material unless it provides a proposal for financial compensation. The BBC claims that Perplexity's tool directly competes with its own services, circumventing the need for users to access those services. This legal threat comes after the BBC's director general, Tim Davie, criticized proposals that could let tech companies use copyright-protected work without permission. Davie emphasized the need for intellectual property protection to prevent a crisis in the industry. Perplexity has responded, calling the BBC's claims "manipulative and opportunistic" and stating that the corporation has a "fundamental misunderstanding of technology, the internet, and intellectual property law." The BBC is seeking an injunction against Perplexity unless the company complies with its demands. This is the BBC's first move to protect its content from being scraped without permission to build AI technology. The corporation is determined to protect its national intellectual property, which it believes is where the value lies. The dispute highlights the ongoing debate over intellectual property protection in the digital age.