CNN Files Lawsuit Against AI Company Perplexity Over Unlawfully Copying & Distributing Its Content

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CNN has filed a lawsuit against the AI company Perplexity, accusing it of unlawfully copying and distributing the network’s copyrighted reporting.

Getting into it: Filed Thursday in New York federal court, the suit accuses Perplexity of scraping more than 17,000 pieces of CNN’s work (stories, videos, and images) and using them to build AI search products that spit out “identical or substantially similar” competing content. CNN argues this erodes the incentive for people to subscribe and also claims Perplexity passes off inaccurate or made-up information as if CNN had reported it. The Warner Bros-owned network is after an unspecified sum in damages and a court order that would bar Perplexity from touching its content. This is the first time CNN has taken an AI company to court over copyright, and possibly the first such move by any TV network.

Explained CNN sued Perplexity for copying 17000 stories here is what the case means for AI and the news industry

Perplexity has pushed back, with its chief communications officer saying, “You can’t copyright facts.” Despite this, CNN’s filing notes that the two sides actually tried to negotiate a licensing deal last year that fell through, meaning Perplexity “knew that it was not permitted to access CNN’s content.” CNN framed the suit as a matter of principle, saying a company “valued at tens of billions of dollars” shouldn’t be able to “steal” original journalism, and warning that while it prefers “sensible licensing arrangements,” for companies that refuse, “there is no free option.”

CNN is not the only outlet suing AI companies. Notably, the New York Times filed a lawsuit against OpenAI over the use of its articles to train ChatGPT and has also gone after Perplexity directly.

In all, more than 100 similar cases have been brought by publishers, authors, and other copyright holders against AI firms, with Perplexity alone already facing actions from News Corp, the Chicago Tribune, and Encyclopedia Britannica, among others.