CNN Sues Perplexity for Allegedly Using Copyrighted News Content Without Permission

CNN has filed a lawsuit against AI search company Perplexity AI in a New York federal court, accusing the firm of unlawfully copying and distributing its copyrighted news content through AI-generated responses.

According to the complaint, Perplexity allegedly copied thousands of CNN articles, videos, and images to train and operate its AI-powered search tools. CNN claimed the company was generating content that was “identical or substantially similar” to its original reporting, thereby competing with the news outlet using material created by CNN journalists.

The lawsuit seeks monetary damages and a court order preventing Perplexity from further using CNN’s intellectual property without authorization. CNN argued that allowing AI companies to freely exploit original journalism threatens the financial foundation of news organizations and undermines incentives for independent reporting.

Perplexity denied wrongdoing, with company spokesperson Jesse Dwyer responding that “facts cannot be copyrighted.”

The case adds to a growing number of copyright battles between media organizations and AI companies following the rise of generative AI tools after the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in 2022. Perplexity is already facing similar legal actions from The New York Times, Reddit, and Dow Jones over alleged unauthorized use of copyrighted material.