CNN sues Perplexity for scraping over 17,000 articles and defying web blocks
- Marijan Hassan - Tech Journalist
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
CNN has filed a lawsuit against AI search startup Perplexity AI, accusing the company of unlawfully copying and distributing its copyrighted journalism through AI-generated search responses.
The lawsuit, filed in a New York federal court, alleges that Perplexity copied thousands of CNN articles, videos, and images to power its AI products, then redistributed “identical or substantially similar” content that directly competes with CNN’s original reporting.
CNN is seeking unspecified monetary damages and a court order to stop Perplexity from using its content without authorization. The network argues that the AI company is profiting from journalism it did not create, while undermining the business model that funds original reporting.
In response, a Perplexity spokesperson defended the company’s practices, stating that “facts cannot be copyrighted.”
The case adds to mounting legal pressure facing Perplexity and other AI firms over how they collect and use online content to train and operate large language models. Perplexity has already faced legal challenges from organizations including The New York Times, Reddit, and Dow Jones over similar allegations involving data scraping and copyright infringement
A failed licensing deal
According to reports, CNN claims Perplexity continued accessing and reproducing its content even after discussions over a potential licensing agreement reportedly broke down. The network also alleges that Perplexity’s systems reproduced near-verbatim excerpts of CNN reporting in some user queries.
The lawsuit is believed to be CNN’s first major AI copyright action and one of the first brought by a television news network against an AI search company.
The case could become another major test of how copyright law applies to generative AI systems, especially as publishers increasingly push back against AI firms using news content without licensing agreements or compensation.
