Class-Action Suit Targets Perplexity AI Over Data Sharing

A proposed class-action lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court in San Francisco accuses Perplexity AI Inc. of secretly sharing users' private conversations with its AI search engine to Google and Meta without consent or disclosure. The suit, brought by an anonymous plaintiff identified as John Doe from Utah, names Perplexity, Google and Meta as defendants and alleges violations of federal and California privacy laws.

According to the 135-page complaint, Perplexity embeds undetectable tracking tools in its website code that transmit users' prompts, AI responses and personal identifiers directly to Google and Meta as soon as someone visits the homepage. This data sharing occurs even for nonsubscribed users and persists regardless of whether individuals enable the company's Incognito mode, which Perplexity describes as creating anonymous chat threads that do not save to history and expire after 24 hours. The trackers allegedly capture sensitive details such as email addresses, IP addresses, device information and Facebook IDs, allowing the tech giants to link conversations to specific individuals.

John Doe claims he shared confidential information with Perplexity's chatbot,...