Perplexity is expanding the publisher program associated with its AI-powered search engine. Added to the list of participants who will share ad revenue and access performance data are Adweek, LA Times, Mexico News Daily, The Independent, Germany’s Stern, the World Encyclopedia and about 10 other media brands. They join existing partners including Time, Fortune and Der Spiegel. Emphasizing its ongoing investment in publishers, Perplexity named Jessica Chan, formerly with LinkedIn and its content partner program, as head of publisher partnerships. News of Perplexity’s content deals appears to be generating mixed feelings in newsrooms.

“Perplexity has a complicated relationship with publishers,” TechCrunch writes. ” Its search engine uses AI to synthesize and summarize content, including news, from around the web, but the way in which Perplexity presents these summaries — and the company’s data-gathering tactics — remain points of contention.”

That outlet cites source at Adweek saying the journalism staff were not informed in advance and at least one reporter learned about the agreement by reading a press release.

“Notably absent from the new cohort is The New York Times, which in October sent Perplexity a cease and desist letter demanding the startup stop accessing its articles without permission,” TechCrunch reports. “Dow Jones, which runs The Wall Street Journal and other newswire services, and The NY Post haven’t joined Perplexity’s program, either — they’re suing the company over what they’ve described as a ‘content kleptocracy’.”

Perplexity integrates with Google’s Chrome browser via an extension, and is the default search engine in the Browser Company products Arc and the upcoming Dia. It is also available as an informational AI assistant via the company’s website and via a mobile app.

The company, founded in August 2022, has investors including Nvidia and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Earlier this year it raised more than $73 million and was valued at about $500 million. The company’s current fundraising target is $500 million, which if met would land in a valuation of approximately $9 billion.

Adding to the rank and file’s perplexity over Perplexity, the company has kept financial details of the publisher deals private, “possibly to maintain negotiation leverage” for future deals, according to Search Engine Land.

SEL notes that Perplexity competitors including OpenAI’s ChatGPT Search are “offering more control to publishers,” but that “the tension between AI-driven search innovation and content ownership remains unresolved, leaving publishers wary but curious about the potential revenue boost.”

In a November article about Perplexity’s fundraising efforts, Technology Magazine wrote that “the global search engine market, long dominated by tech giants like Google and Microsoft’s Bing, is experiencing a seismic shift with the advent of AI technologies.”