Amid concerns over AI platforms affecting website traffic and revenue of news media, Perplexity has introduced Comet Plus, a new subscription that gives its users access to premium content from a group of trusted publishers and journalists and shares a portion of the revenue with them.
Perplexity’s revenue-sharing model for publishers comes amid a backlash over unsanctioned use of their content by generative AI platforms. Comet is an AI-powered search engine designed to compete with Google.
As part of the arrangement, media firms would be paid based on how often their articles appear or are used on Perplexity’s Comet internet browser. Revenue would be generated through subscriptions to curated content on the browser.
“Comet Plus transforms how publishers are compensated in the AI age. As users demand a better internet in the age of AI, it’s time for a business model to ensure that publishers and journalists benefit from their contributions to a better internet,” states a blog post on the Perplexity website, announcing the move.
The post says subscribers of Comet Plus can gain direct access to the sites and content of participating publishers, empower their AI assistants to complete tasks on those sites, and benefit from direct answers informed by the highest-quality content on the web.
Perplexity has kept a fund of $42.5 million for participating publishers. A share of the revenue earned from Comet Plus subscriptions will be sent to the pool based on an 80-20 ratio in favor of publishers. Comet Plus will be a $5 standalone subscription. Pro and Max subscribers get Comet Plus included in their memberships. Publishers interested in participating can join the program by emailing at publishers@perplexity.ai.
The platform says Comet Plus helps publishers become more useful to their readers and their readers’ assistants, offering custom experiences for both human and user agent traffic while ensuring their important journalism and content contribute to a better internet for the users who demand it. “In exchange, we are distributing all of that revenue to participating publishers, minus a small portion for Perplexity’s compute costs.”
Comet Plus is the first compensation model that allocates revenue to its partners based on three types of internet traffic – human visits, search citations, and agent actions. “The revenue allocation recognizes the reality that users now choose how they want to consume information: browsing manually, asking for AI-generated answers, or deploying agents for complex tasks. Publishers deserve compensation that matches this new reality,” the post says.
Bloomberg quoted Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas as saying, “AI is helping to create a better internet, but publishers still need to get paid. So we think this is actually the right solution, and we’re happy to make adjustments along the way,”
This is not the first time AI platforms have opened up for collaboration. In July 2024, Perplexity announced a Publishers’ Program to share revenue through the related questions feature. Publishers such as Time, Fortune, Entrepreneur, the Texas Tribune, Der Spiegel, and WordPress.com participated in the program. OpenAI also partnered with over 20 media organizations and over 160 news outlets across 20 languages.
Perplexity’s row
But then, AI platforms have had their share of controversies, too. Generative AI platforms are facing legal action over the use of content from news media outlets in AI news summaries without permission. Publishers also feel AI summaries have led to a decline in clicks and views of the source platforms.
Perplexity faced lawsuits filed by media outlets such as Forbes and Condé Nast, and was accused of copyright infringement by News Corp.’s Dow Jones and the New York Post. In India, news publishers accused OpenAI of using published content in an unauthorized manner to train ChatGPT and demanded protection of copyright in the training of artificial intelligence models..
In India, a multi-stakeholder committee set up in April by the department for promotion of industry and internal trade (DPIIT), under the Ministry of commerce and industry, is examining whether the Copyright Act, 1957, is equipped to address the rise of AI-generated content.
