CNN has become the latest major media company to take legal action against AI search startup Perplexity, filing a lawsuit that accuses the company of “massive copyright infringement.” The cable news network claims Perplexity wrongfully scraped its website and copied more than 17,000 pieces of content without permission.
The legal challenge adds CNN to a rapidly expanding group of publishers pursuing litigation against the AI company, highlighting the growing tension between traditional media organizations and AI firms over content usage and compensation. This wave of lawsuits could fundamentally reshape how AI companies access and use news content for their products.
The lawsuit, which was filed Thursday, claims that Perplexity “unlawfully crawls, scrapes, copies, and distributes CNN’s content from CNN Digital Platforms and third-party platforms.” The complaint goes beyond simple content copying, alleging that Perplexity’s AI tools reproduce “verbatim copies” of CNN articles, including paywalled stories, in responses to user queries.
CNN also accuses Perplexity of trademark violations, claiming the AI company has incorrectly attributed “hallucinated” or fabricated content to CNN. This practice potentially damages the news network’s reputation by associating its brand with inaccurate information generated by AI systems.
“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,” a CNN spokesperson said. “The public rely on high quality news journalism reported by human beings to understand their world, which is frequently dangerous and expensive to produce. Commercial operators can and must pay to make use of it.”
The legal action reflects broader concerns within the media industry about AI companies profiting from news content without compensating the organizations that invest heavily in journalism. News gathering often requires significant resources, especially for breaking news coverage, investigative reporting, and international correspondence.
CNN joins an impressive roster of media companies that have filed similar lawsuits against Perplexity. The list includes:
- The New York Times
- Chicago Tribune
- Merriam-Webster
- Encyclopedia Britannica
- Nikkei
Perplexity has defended its practices, with Chief Communications Officer Jesse Dwyer stating “You can’t copyright facts” in response to CNN’s lawsuit. However, the legal challenges focus not just on factual information but on the wholesale copying of original reporting, analysis, and editorial content that represents significant journalistic investment.
Perhaps most notably, the lawsuit reveals that Perplexity and CNN were previously in negotiations that could have legitimized the AI company’s use of CNN content. According to court documents, the two companies discussed a deal last year that would have made paywalled CNN content available to Perplexity’s paid subscribers.
When those negotiations fell through, Perplexity allegedly continued using CNN’s name and content in its products despite warnings from the network’s legal team. The lawsuit claims Perplexity never responded to these legal warnings, leading to the current litigation.
This pattern suggests that while some AI companies may be willing to negotiate licensing deals with media organizations, they may also continue unauthorized usage when agreements cannot be reached. The outcome of these lawsuits could establish important precedents for how AI companies must handle copyrighted news content and whether they can continue scraping without explicit permission or compensation agreements.
