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CNN has sued Perplexity, accusing the AI company of unlawfully using the news network’s copyrighted content without permission. <\/p>\n
The lawsuit, filed on Thursday, claims that Perplexity copied over 17,000 of CNN’s stories, videos, images, and other published works to support its products and tools.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201c[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,\u201d said a CNN spokesperson in a statement<\/a>. \u201cThe public relies 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, the lawsuit is CNN\u2019s first legal case against an AI company. <\/p>\n The suit outlined how in addition to copyright infringement, Perplexity also allegedly violated CNN\u2019s trademarks<\/a> by falsely claiming an affiliation between the brand and CNN.<\/p>\n In October 2025, CNN and Perplexity negotiated a partnership allowing the AI company to access CNN paywalled content for its Comet Plus users in exchange for compensation to CNN. <\/p>\n However, the deal fell through in November 2025 due to CNN’s and Perplexity\u2019s inability to agree on multiple issues, according to the legal complaint. Over the course of negotiations and after, CNN blocked Perplexity’s AI bot from accessing its content.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAs a result, before and after Perplexity\u2019s negotiations with CNN, Perplexity knew that it was not permitted to access CNN\u2019s content or to use its trademarks or service marks,\u201d the lawsuit states.<\/p>\n In December 2025, CNN wrote to Perplexity’s then-head of legal and operations, demanding a stop to all unauthorized use of CNN\u2019s name and content. Perplexity allegedly never responded to CNN\u2019s letter and continued to use CNN\u2019s content.\u00a0<\/p>\n In a statement to Fast Company<\/em>, Perplexity\u2019s chief communications officer, Jesse Dwyer, said, \u201cYou can\u2019t copyright facts.\u201d <\/p>\n This is not the first instance of legal trouble for Perplexity. The New York Times<\/em><\/a>, News Corp.<\/a>, Chicago Tribune<\/em><\/a>, and Britannica<\/a> are among the media outlets that have sued the AI startup in recent years.<\/p>\n CNN is seeking damages and restitution of profits.<\/p>\nWhat does the lawsuit say?<\/h2>\n