Perplexity Faces Lawsuit from CNN and Other Media Giants

CNN has become the latest media organization to take legal action against Perplexity, alleging serious copyright infringement. The prominent cable news channel claims that the AI-powered search platform unlawfully scraped over 17,000 pieces of its content from its website.

The lawsuit, filed on Thursday, accuses Perplexity of “illegally crawling, scraping, copying, and distributing CNN’s content across CNN Digital Platforms and third-party sites.” It points out that the AI tools are reproducing “verbatim copies” of CNN’s articles, including those behind paywalls, in responses to user queries. the complaint highlights that Perplexity’s AI has misattributed “hallucinated” content to CNN, a violation of the network’s trademark.

A spokesperson for CNN stated, “This lawsuit asserts that Perplexity, valued at tens of billions of dollars, should not be allowed to exploit the original content created by others.” The spokesperson emphasized the essential role of quality journalism in providing the public with accurate information about complex and often perilous topics, asserting that commercial entities must compensate for the use of such content.

CNN is not alone in its legal pursuit against Perplexity for unauthorized content scraping. Other notable entities, including The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Reddit, Merriam-Webster, Encyclopedia Britannica, and Nikkei, have also initiated lawsuits against the AI company. In response, Perplexity’s Chief Communications Officer, Jesse Dwyer, remarked, “You can’t copyright facts,” suggesting a defense based on the nature of the content.

Interestingly, the lawsuit reveals that Perplexity had previously attempted to negotiate a licensing agreement with CNN to access some of its content. The two companies were in discussions last year about a deal that would allow paywalled CNN articles to be made available to Perplexity’s subscribers. the agreement fell apart, yet Perplexity continued to utilize CNN’s name and content without permission, even after receiving warnings from CNN’s legal team. The lawsuit indicates that Perplexity failed to respond to these communications.