Perplexity AI Faces Class-Action Suit for Sharing Chats With Meta, Google

Perplexity AI, one of the most prominent AI-powered search engines, is facing a class-action lawsuit accusing the company of secretly sharing complete transcripts of user conversations with Meta and Google through undetectable tracking software embedded in its platform. The suit, filed on April 1, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in San Francisco, adds to a growing list of legal challenges confronting the startup.

The complaint was brought by a Utah man identified as "John Doe," who alleges that trackers are automatically installed on users' devices the moment they access Perplexity's homepage, granting Meta and Google full access to all interactions with the AI search engine. According to the filing, these trackers remain active even when users enable the platform's "Incognito" mode — a feature that ostensibly promises enhanced privacy. "No reasonable person would expect Perplexity to share full transcripts of their conversations with companies like Meta and Google," the complaint states.

The lawsuit further alleges that Perplexity disguised its AI agent as a standard Google Chrome browser session and received "advertising and analytics benefits" in exchange for sharing sensitive user data. The plaintiff claims to have shared family financial information, tax obligations, investment portfolios, and financial strategies with Perplexity's chatbot — all of which were allegedly transmitted to the tech giants without his knowledge or consent. The suit accuses the company of violating state and federal computer privacy and fraud laws, including California privacy statutes.

Perplexity has pushed back against the allegations. Jesse Dwyer, the company's Director of Communications, told reporters that the company "has not been served with any lawsuit matching this description" and denied sharing user data with Meta or Google. Meta, for its part, pointed to its existing policies that prohibit advertisers from sending sensitive data through its systems. Google has not commented on the matter.

The lawsuit arrives at a particularly difficult moment for Perplexity. In March 2026, a federal judge in San Francisco issued an injunction against the company in a separate matter. The startup also faces ongoing litigation from Amazon over allegations of unauthorized access to password-protected websites and issues related to its "Buy with Pro" e-commerce feature. The accumulation of legal actions suggests a pattern of aggressive data practices that courts and competitors are increasingly willing to challenge.

The class-action suit has not yet received class certification, but if approved, it could dramatically expand the number of plaintiffs and the scope of potential damages. The case strikes at a fundamental tension in the AI industry: users often share deeply personal and sensitive information with AI chatbots, trusting that those conversations remain private. If the allegations prove true, they would represent a significant breach of that implicit contract.

The broader implications extend well beyond Perplexity. As AI-powered search engines and chatbots become primary tools for information retrieval and personal decision-making, the case raises urgent questions about how these platforms monetize user interactions behind the scenes. Privacy advocates have long warned that the conversational nature of AI tools encourages users to disclose far more than they would in a traditional search query, making the potential for abuse correspondingly greater. The outcome of this litigation could set important precedents for data-sharing practices across the entire AI industry.