San Francisco, California – A new AI chatbot developed by Quora, called Poe, is causing controversy by providing users with downloadable HTML files of articles behind paywalls from various journalistic outlets. This AI platform, supported by a $75 million investment from Andreessen Horowitz, has been able to access articles from publications such as The New York Times, Bloomberg Businessweek, The Atlantic, and Forbes, among others.
The service offered by Poe involves users entering URLs of paywalled articles into the chatbot, with the bot then generating a detailed summary of the content as well as a downloadable file containing the entire article in HTML format. This feature has raised concerns about potential copyright infringement, as these articles are being copied and stored on Poe’s servers.
Legal experts like James Grimmelmann from Cornell University have pointed out that this practice of copying and storing articles on Poe’s servers without permission could potentially violate copyright laws. Quora, however, argues that Poe operates similarly to cloud storage services and does not see any legal issues with its functionality.
Media executives from various publications have reported instances of servers identifying themselves as “Quora bots” accessing their sites immediately after Poe’s chatbot was prompted with specific article requests. This has led to suspicions that Poe may not be adhering to standard web protocols and may be accessing copyrighted content without authorization.
Despite the concerns raised about potential copyright violations, Quora spokesperson Autumn Besselman has maintained that Poe’s file attachment feature is designed to operate within the bounds of copyright law. The platform insists that the file downloads are user-directed and comparable to other services like cloud storage and web clippers.
The issue of AI platforms accessing and distributing copyrighted content raises questions about the future of intellectual property rights in the digital age. As technology continues to advance, it will be important for companies like Quora to ensure that their AI services are in compliance with existing copyright laws to avoid legal repercussions.