By @MarketingEds
Publication Date: 2026-05-29 04:03:00
CNN has reportedly filed a lawsuit against AI search engine company Perplexity, accusing the firm of unlawfully copying and distributing its copyrighted content.
Filed on Thursday in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, the lawsuit reportedly marks CNN’s first copyright action against an AI company and is believed to be the first such case brought by a television network.
According to Reuters, CNN alleged that Perplexity copied “thousands” of its stories, videos and images to power its AI products, while distributing “identical or substantially similar” competing content.
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A CNN spokesperson reportedly said the lawsuit reflects its position that Perplexity, despite its multibillion-dollar valuation, should compensate publishers whose original journalism it allegedly uses to power its AI products.
CNN also reportedly argued in its complaint that Perplexity’s alleged actions undermine the economics of original journalism by exploiting reporting that is expensive and resource-intensive to produce.
Perplexity has reportedly denied the allegations. “You can’t copyright facts,” spokesperson Jesse Dwyer said in a statement quoted by media reports.
According to CNN, the media company had previously attempted to negotiate a licensing agreement with Perplexity last year, but both parties failed to reach terms.
The network said it…