CNN Sues Perplexity AI Over Alleged Copyright Infringement

CNN has filed a lawsuit against AI startup Perplexity AI, accusing the company of violating copyright laws by using artificial intelligence to rewrite and distribute its news reporting without authorization.

The lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleges that Perplexity’s AI-generated outputs undermine CNN’s journalism business model by repurposing original reporting while benefiting from CNN’s reputation and brand recognition.

“CNN’s lawsuit stands for the proposition that Perplexity, a company valued at tens of billions of dollars, should not be able to steal from entities that create the original content Perplexity exploits,” said a CNN spokesperson.

Perplexity pushed back against the allegations. “You can’t copyright facts. Copyright does not protect facts, ideas, systems, or methods of operation, although it may protect the way these things are expressed,” said Jesse Dwyer, Perplexity Chief Communications Officer.

The lawsuit adds to a growing list of legal challenges faced by AI firms over the use of copyrighted content to train and power generative AI systems. Perplexity was previously sued by The New York Times in 2024, alongside Microsoft and OpenAI, over similar claims.

According to the complaint, CNN and Perplexity had earlier explored a potential licensing agreement that would compensate CNN for the use of its content. The filing claims negotiations later broke down, after which CNN allegedly asked Perplexity to stop using its content and trademarks.

“Perplexity’s use infringes CNN’s exclusive rights in its federally registered trademarks, and has caused and is likely to cause confusion, mistake, or deception,” the complaint stated.

CNN argues that Perplexity continued using its content despite warnings, benefiting from consumer trust associated with the news network.