techcrunch.com Open in urlscan Pro
2001:4998:c:8805::2000  Public Scan

Form analysis
2 forms found in the DOM

GET https://techcrunch.com/

<form role="search" method="get" action="https://techcrunch.com/" class="wp-block-search__button-inside wp-block-search__text-button wp-block-search"><label class="wp-block-search__label screen-reader-text"
    for="wp-block-search__input-1">Search</label>
  <div class="wp-block-search__inside-wrapper "><input autocomplete="off" data-wp-on--keydown="actions.queryAutoSearch" class="wp-block-search__input" id="wp-block-search__input-1" placeholder="Search articles or topics" value="" type="search"
      name="s" required=""><button aria-label="Submit" class="wp-block-search__button wp-element-button" type="submit">Submit</button></div>
</form>

POST /

<form method="POST" action="/" class="newsletter-signup-compact__form validated-form" aria-busy="false" novalidate="">
  <div class="d-flex gap-30 g-col-8 flex-column flex-md-row">
    <div class="d-grid gap-8 g-col-8">
      <div class="newsletter-signup-item g-col-12 g-col-sm-6 g-col-lg-3 "><input type="checkbox" id="newsletter-techcrunch-daily-news" name="newsletters[]" tabindex="-1" class="visually-hidden newsletter-signup-item__control" value="2725851"><button
          class="newsletter-signup-item__select" type="button">
          <h5 class="newsletter-signup-item__title" aria-hidden="true">TechCrunch Daily News</h5>
          <div class="newsletter-signup-item__status-icon"></div>
          <p class="newsletter-signup-item__description" aria-hidden="true">Every weekday and Sunday, you can get the best of TechCrunch’s coverage.</p><label class="visually-hidden newsletter-signup-item__action-label"
            for="newsletter-techcrunch-daily-news">Add TechCrunch Daily News to your subscription choices</label>
        </button></div>
      <div class="newsletter-signup-item g-col-12 g-col-sm-6 g-col-lg-3 "><input type="checkbox" id="newsletter-techcrunch-ai" name="newsletters[]" tabindex="-1" class="visually-hidden newsletter-signup-item__control" value="2758392"><button
          class="newsletter-signup-item__select" type="button">
          <h5 class="newsletter-signup-item__title" aria-hidden="true">TechCrunch AI</h5>
          <div class="newsletter-signup-item__status-icon"></div>
          <p class="newsletter-signup-item__description" aria-hidden="true">TechCrunch's AI experts cover the latest news in the fast-moving field.</p><label class="visually-hidden newsletter-signup-item__action-label"
            for="newsletter-techcrunch-ai">Add TechCrunch AI to your subscription choices</label>
        </button></div>
      <div class="newsletter-signup-item g-col-12 g-col-sm-6 g-col-lg-3 "><input type="checkbox" id="newsletter-techcrunch-space" name="newsletters[]" tabindex="-1" class="visually-hidden newsletter-signup-item__control" value="2725844"><button
          class="newsletter-signup-item__select" type="button">
          <h5 class="newsletter-signup-item__title" aria-hidden="true">TechCrunch Space</h5>
          <div class="newsletter-signup-item__status-icon"></div>
          <p class="newsletter-signup-item__description" aria-hidden="true">Every Monday, gets you up to speed on the latest advances in aerospace.</p><label class="visually-hidden newsletter-signup-item__action-label"
            for="newsletter-techcrunch-space">Add TechCrunch Space to your subscription choices</label>
        </button></div>
      <div class="newsletter-signup-item g-col-12 g-col-sm-6 g-col-lg-3 "><input type="checkbox" id="newsletter-startups-weekly" name="newsletters[]" tabindex="-1" class="visually-hidden newsletter-signup-item__control" value="2725843"><button
          class="newsletter-signup-item__select" type="button">
          <h5 class="newsletter-signup-item__title" aria-hidden="true">Startups Weekly</h5>
          <div class="newsletter-signup-item__status-icon"></div>
          <p class="newsletter-signup-item__description" aria-hidden="true">Startups are the core of TechCrunch, so get our best coverage delivered weekly.</p><label class="visually-hidden newsletter-signup-item__action-label"
            for="newsletter-startups-weekly">Add Startups Weekly to your subscription choices</label>
        </button></div>
    </div>
    <div class="g-col-4 d-flex flex-column gap-8 justify-content-center flex-basis-30 flex-shrink-0">
      <legend role="status" aria-live="polite" class="newsletter-signup-compact__status">No newsletters selected.</legend>
      <fieldset>
        <div class="form-input d-flex gap-8 flex-column ">
          <div class="d-flex flex-column gap-8 form-input__wrapper"><input value="" class="form-input__input flex-grow-1 " type="email" id="email" name="email" placeholder="Email address" required="">
            <div class="d-flex gap-16">
              <div class="btn"><button type="submit" class="btn__link is-disabled force-small">Subscribe</button></div>
              <p class="newsletter-signup-compact__compliance">By submitting your email, you agree to our <a href="https://legal.yahoo.com/us/en/yahoo/terms/otos/index.html">Terms</a> and
                <a href="https://legal.yahoo.com/us/en/yahoo/privacy/index.html">Privacy Notice</a>.</p>
            </div>
          </div>
        </div>
      </fieldset>
    </div>
  </div>
</form>

Text Content

Skip to content
TechCrunch Desktop Logo TechCrunch Mobile Logo
 * Latest
 * Startups
 * Venture
 * Apple
 * Security
 * AI
 * Apps


 * Events
 * Podcasts
 * Newsletters

Sign In
Search
Submit

Site Search Toggle
Mega Menu Toggle


TOPICS

Latest

AI

Amazon

Apps

Biotech & Health

Climate

Cloud Computing

Commerce

Crypto

Enterprise

EVs

Fintech

Fundraising

Gadgets

Gaming

Google

Government & Policy

Hardware

Instagram

Layoffs

Media & Entertainment

Meta

Microsoft

Privacy

Robotics

Security

Social

Space

Startups

TikTok

Transportation

Venture




MORE FROM TECHCRUNCH

Events

Startup Battlefield

StrictlyVC

Newsletters

Podcasts

Videos

Partner Content

TechCrunch Brand Studio

Crunchboard

Contact Us

Sign In
Image Credits:Kimberly White for TechCrunch / Getty Images
Media & Entertainment



PERPLEXITY CEO OFFERS AI COMPANY’S SERVICES TO REPLACE STRIKING NYT STAFF

Devin Coldewey
1:43 PM PST · November 4, 2024



The CEO of AI search company Perplexity, Aravind Srinivas, has offered to cross
picket lines and provide services to mitigate the effect of a strike by New York
Times tech workers.

The NYT Tech Guild announced its strike Monday, after setting November 4 as its
deadline months earlier. The workers represented provide software support and
data analysis for the Times, on the business side of the outlet. They have been
asking for an annual 2.5% wage increase and to cement a current two days per
week in-office expectation, among other things.




“But the company has decided that our members aren’t worth enough to agree to a
fair contract and stop committing unfair labor practices,” the guild wrote on X.

“They have left us no choice but to demonstrate the power of our labor on the
picket line,” said Kathy Zhang, the organization’s unit chair, in a statement.

The NYT’s publisher, AG Sulzberger, criticized a strike two days ahead of the
U.S. presidential election, saying in a statement, “Hundreds of millions of
people are depending on The Times’s journalism on Election Day and afterward,
and it is troubling that the Tech Guild would try to block this public service
at such a consequential moment for our country.”

StrictlyVC San Francisco
Mix and mingle with your peers and hear insights from top-tier VCs
San Francisco | December 4
REGISTER NOW
Techcrunch event
StrictlyVC San Francisco
Mix and mingle with your peers and hear insights from top-tier VCs
San Francisco | December 4
REGISTER NOW

Picketers demonstrated in front of the NYT building in New York as negotiations
continued. Meanwhile, on X, formerly known as Twitter, Perplexity’s CEO offered
to step in for the striking workers.

Replying to Semafor media editor Max Tani quoting the publisher, Srinivas wrote:
“Hey AG Sulzberger @nytimes sorry to see this. Perplexity is on standby to help
ensure your essential coverage is available to all through the election. DM me
anytime here.”

Many on X immediately castigated Srinivas for acting as a scab — a derogatory
term for people willing to perform the jobs of striking workers. It is widely
considered a disreputable behavior in matters of labor and equity. By
undercutting collective action, scabs limit the ability of workers to bargain
with those in positions of power.

Srinivas may simply be trying to make sure people have the information they need
on election day. The company has lately unveiled its own elections info hub and
map. But to offer its services explicitly as a replacement for striking workers
was bound to be an unpopular move.

Though TechCrunch asked Perplexity for comment, Srinivas responded to
TechCrunch’s post on X saying that “the offer was *not* to ‘replace’ journalists
or engineers with AI but to provide technical infra support on a high-traffic
day.” The striking workers in question, however, are the ones who provide that
service to the NYT. It’s not really clear what services other than AI tools
Perplexity could offer, or why they would not amount to replacing the workers in
question. (However, in response to the clarification, we have opted to change
the headline to reflect the claim that this offer was not necessarily specific
to AI services.)




The NYT and Perplexity aren’t exactly on the best of terms right now. The Times
sent Perplexity a cease and desist letter in October over the startup’s scraping
of articles for use by its AI models. In a conversation last week with
TechCrunch, the normally outspoken CEO declined to define “plagiarism.”





Topics

AI, Aravind Srinivas, Media & Entertainment, new york times, Perplexity, TC
December 4
San Francisco
INVESTORS: Join other investors in exclusive VC talk with some of the top VC
leaders. Limited space.
Register Now


MOST POPULAR



 * ANTHROPIC TEAMS UP WITH PALANTIR AND AWS TO SELL AI TO DEFENSE CUSTOMERS
   
   
    * Kyle Wiggers
   
   
   
   

 * SPACEX TO LAUNCH STARSHIP FOR THE SIXTH TIME THIS MONTH
   
   
    * Aria Alamalhodaei
   
   
   
   

 * THE OTHER ELECTION NIGHT WINNER: PERPLEXITY
   
   
    * Maxwell Zeff
   
   
   
   

 * OPENAI ACQUIRED CHAT.COM
   
   
    * Kyle Wiggers
   
   
   
   

 * WHAT TRUMP’S WIN MIGHT MEAN FOR ELON MUSK
   
   
    * Rebecca Bellan
    * Aria Alamalhodaei
   
   
   
   

 * MOZILLA FOUNDATION LAYS OFF 30% STAFF, DROPS ADVOCACY DIVISION
   
   
    * Zack Whittaker
   
   
   
   

 * DECART’S AI SIMULATES A REAL-TIME, PLAYABLE VERSION OF MINECRAFT
   
   
    * Kyle Wiggers
   
   
   
   


Devin Coldewey

Writer & Photographer

Devin Coldewey is a Seattle-based writer and photographer. He first wrote for
TechCrunch in 2007.

His personal website is coldewey.cc.

View Bio



NEWSLETTERS

See More

Subscribe for the industry’s biggest tech news



TECHCRUNCH DAILY NEWS



Every weekday and Sunday, you can get the best of TechCrunch’s coverage.

Add TechCrunch Daily News to your subscription choices

TECHCRUNCH AI



TechCrunch's AI experts cover the latest news in the fast-moving field.

Add TechCrunch AI to your subscription choices

TECHCRUNCH SPACE



Every Monday, gets you up to speed on the latest advances in aerospace.

Add TechCrunch Space to your subscription choices

STARTUPS WEEKLY



Startups are the core of TechCrunch, so get our best coverage delivered weekly.

Add Startups Weekly to your subscription choices
No newsletters selected.
Subscribe

By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice.


RELATED

 * In Brief
   
   AI-POWERED PARENTING IS HERE AND A16Z IS READY TO BACK IT 
   
    * Margaux MacColl
   
   55 mins ago
 * Social
   
   
   WITH THIS LATEST DEAL, FLIPBOARD LOOKS TO BUILD A NEWS ECOSYSTEM BEYOND X
   
    * Sarah Perez
   
   2 hours ago
 * AI
   
   
   MISTRAL LAUNCHES A MODERATION API
   
    * Kyle Wiggers
   
   6 hours ago


LATEST IN MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

See More
 * Social
   
   
   TIKTOK’S LATEST FEATURE LETS MUSIC FANS ‘SHARE TO TIKTOK’ FROM SPOTIFY AND
   APPLE MUSIC
   
    * Sarah Perez
   
   6 hours ago
 * TechCrunch Disrupt 2024
   
   
   AS GENERATIVE AI GETS BETTER, WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO ARTISTS?
   
    * Amanda Silberling
   
   2 days ago
 * Apps
   
   
   ELON MUSK’S FALSE AND MISLEADING ELECTION CLAIMS HAVE BEEN VIEWED 2 BILLION
   TIMES ON X
   
    * Rebecca Bellan
   
   2 days ago

 * X
 * LinkedIn
 * Facebook
 * Instagram
 * youTube
 * Mastodon
 * Threads

 * TechCrunch
 * Staff
 * Contact Us
 * Advertise
 * Crunchboard Jobs
 * Site Map

 * Terms of Service
 * Privacy Policy
 * RSS Terms of Use
 * Your Privacy Choices
 * CA Privacy Notice
 * Code of Conduct
 * About Our Ads

 * Elon Musk
 * AI Regulation
 * NYT Tech Strike
 * OpenAI Acquires Chat.com
 * Dave FTC Action
 * Tech Layoffs
 * ChatGPT

© 2024 Yahoo.

StrictlyVC San Francisco - Network & hear from star VCs and founders in a casual
atmosphere.

StrictlyVC San Francisco - Network & hear from star VCs and founders

Register Now
Some areas of this page may shift around if you resize the browser window. Be
sure to check heading and document order.