Davenport-based newspaper publisher Lee Enterprises is partnering with a company that offers artificial intelligence (AI) services. The partnership will help with Lee’s advertising and journalism efforts, according to the company.
Lee officials announced in a news release Friday, Dec. 6, a partnership with Perplexity, an AI search engine.
“Perplexity is a free AI Search engine designed to revolutionize the way you discover information. Ask any question, and it searches the internet to give you an accessible, conversational, and verifiable answer. Think of Perplexity as a research partner, always on the clock, saving you valuable time by providing the precise knowledge you need,” according to information from Perplexity.
In the Quad Cities region, Lee is the publisher of the Quad-City Times, Moline Dispatch and Muscatine Journal newspapers. It publishes more than 350 weekly and specialty publications serving 73 markets in 26 U.S. states.
By using this service, Lee’s release said it aims to redefine how communities interact with local news and advertising, offering personalized content experiences and opening new avenues for local businesses to connect with their audiences.
“This partnership positions Lee at the forefront of the AI-driven transformation in media, unlocking opportunities to expand its audience and diversify revenue streams,” Perplexity said in the release.
“AI is reshaping the business models of industries around the world, and journalism is no exception,” Lee CEO Kevin Mowbray said. “By integrating AI into our operations, we’re excited to transform how we deliver news, support our advertisers, and engage with readers in ways that were never possible before. This is about creating a future where trusted local journalism thrives in the digital age.”
Dmitry Shevelenko, chief business officer at Perplexity, added: “We started our publisher program to develop strategic partnerships with news organizations whose content informs the questions people ask… We look forward to working with them to leverage our technology to power new reader-first experiences and to ensure a healthy and active information ecosystem.”
This week, the news website searchengineland.com reported that “Perplexity’s growing publisher partnerships could enhance ad reach by integrating trusted news sources, but transparency issues and legal disputes may impact brand safety and content alignment.”
It added that Perplexity’s AI “summarizes content from across the web, but critics argue it competes unfairly with publishers by pulling in their stories — sometimes behind paywalls — and paraphrasing them inaccurately.”
Perplexity was founded in 2022 by former members of OpenAI, Meta, Quora, Bing, and Databricks. Each week, Perplexity answers more than 100 million questions around the world,” according to the company.
