New York Times and Chicago Tribune sue Perplexity over alleged copyright infringement
13 Sources
[1]
The New York Times is suing Perplexity for copyright infringement | TechCrunch
The New York Times filed suit Friday against AI search startup Perplexity for copyright infringement, its second lawsuit against an AI company. The Times joins several media outlets suing Perplexity, including the Chicago Tribune, which also filed suit this week. The Times's suit claims that
[2]
Chicago Tribune sues Perplexity | TechCrunch
The Chicago Tribune filed a lawsuit against AI search engine Perplexity on Thursday alleging copyright infringement. The suit, seen by TechCrunch, was filed in a federal court in New York. The Tribune alleges that its lawyers contacted Perplexity in mid-October asking if the AI search engine was
[3]
The New York Times sues Perplexity, alleging copyright infringement
The suit, filed in the Southern District of New York, accuses Perplexity of unlawfully scraping The Times' stories, videos, podcasts and other content to formulate responses to user queries. The startup also generates outputs that are "identical or substantially similar to" The Times' content,
[4]
The New York Times and Chicago Tribune sue Perplexity over alleged copyright infringement
The New York Times and the Chicago Tribune have filed separate lawsuits against Perplexity over alleged copyright infringement. The Times said it had sent Perplexity several cease-and-desist demands to stop using its content until the two reached an agreement, but the AI company persisted in doing
[5]
New York Times Sues A.I. Start-Up Perplexity Over Use of Copyrighted Work
Cade Metz reported from San Francisco, and Michael M. Grynbaum from New York. The New York Times claimed in a lawsuit on Friday that its copyrights were repeatedly violated by Perplexity, an artificial intelligence start-up that has built a cutting-edge internet search engine. The Times said in
[6]
NYT sues Perplexity for copyright infringement
Why it matters: The lawsuit expands the Times' legal battles against AI companies, as it looks to set clearer boundaries and a new precedent for how it and other content companies are compensated for their work in the AI era. * The Times became one of the first major media companies to sue OpenAI
[7]
New York Times sues AI startup for 'illegal' copying of millions of articles
Perplexity AI also faces lawsuit from Murdoch-owned Dow Jones and New York Post for its use of copyrighted content The New York Times sued an embattled artificial intelligence startup on Friday, accusing the firm of illegal copying of millions of articles. The newspaper alleged Perplexity AI had
[8]
ETtech Explainer: The New York Times' copyright battle against Perplexity AI - The Economic Times
The New York Times has sued Perplexity AI, claiming the startup used millions of its articles without permission to train chatbots. The newspaper alleges copyright violations, reputational harm, and unauthorised commercial use, despite prior warnings. This dispute is part of a wider conflict
[9]
New York Times, Chicago Tribune Sue Perplexity AI For Reproducing Their Stories
New York Times, Chicago Tribune Sue Perplexity AI For Reproducing Their Stories Perplexity AI, an artificial-intelligence-based chatbot and search engine, is up against two new lawsuits as both the New York Times and the Chicago Tribune allege the startup has been stealing their content. Both
[10]
New York Times sues Perplexity AI for 'illegal' copying of content
The New York Times has filed a lawsuit against AI startup Perplexity. The Times claims Perplexity copied and used its articles without permission for its AI products. This is part of a larger legal battle between publishers and AI companies. Perplexity faces similar accusations from other media
[11]
New York Times Sues Perplexity, Alleging Copyright Violations and Damage to Brand | PYMNTS.com
By completing this form, you agree to receive marketing communications from PYMNTS and to the sharing of your information with our sponsor, if applicable, in accordance with our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions. The New York Times reported Friday (Dec. 5) that the suit accuses Perplexity of
[12]
New York Times Sues Perplexity AI For Copyright Infringement
The New York Times (NYT) has filed a major lawsuit against Perplexity AI, accusing the artificial intelligence (AI) company of illegally copying its journalism and using it to power commercial AI products. The complaint, filed on December 5, 2025, in a US District Court in New York, says
[13]
New York Times sues Perplexity AI for 'illegal' copying of content
The New York Times filed a lawsuit against Perplexity AI on Friday, claiming that the artificial intelligence startup was copying, distributing and displaying millions of its articles without permission. The startup has become a target of multiple legal disputes and faces similar accusations from
Share
Copy Link
The New York Times and Chicago Tribune filed separate lawsuits against AI search engine Perplexity, alleging copyright infringement. The Times claims Perplexity scraped content to train AI models and reproduced articles verbatim without permission, while bypassing its paywall. This marks the second legal action against AI companies by The Times, following its 2023 lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft.
The New York Times Launches Second Copyright Infringement Lawsuit Against AI
The New York Times filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Perplexity, an AI search engine startup, on Friday in federal court in New York
1
. This marks the second legal action against AI companies by the publication, following its December 2023 suit against OpenAI and Microsoft5
. The lawsuit claims that Perplexity provides commercial products that substitute for The Times "without permission or remuneration"1
.
Source: TechCrunch
"While we believe in the ethical and responsible use and development of AI, we firmly object to Perplexity's unlicensed use of our content to develop and promote their products," said Graham James, a spokesperson for The Times
3
. The Times claims it contacted Perplexity several times over the past 18 months, demanding the startup stop using its content until an agreement could be negotiated, but Perplexity persisted4
.Chicago Tribune Joins Growing Legal Pressure on Perplexity
The Chicago Tribune filed a separate copyright infringement lawsuit against Perplexity on Thursday in federal court, alleging the AI company unlawfully scraped content to train AI models
2
. The Tribune's lawyers contacted Perplexity in mid-October asking if the AI search engine was using its content. Perplexity's lawyers replied it did not train models with the Tribune's work but that it "may receive non-verbatim factual summaries"2
. However, the Tribune argues that Perplexity reproduced articles verbatim and that its Comet browser is bypassing the paywall to deliver detailed summaries2
.How Retrieval Augmented Generation Enables Unlicensed Content Use
Both lawsuits take issue with Perplexity's Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) technology, which gathers information from websites and databases to generate responses via its chatbots and Comet browser AI assistant
1
. "Perplexity then repackages the original content in written responses to users," the suit reads. "Those responses, or outputs, often are verbatim or near-verbatim reproductions, summaries, or abridgments of the original content, including The Times's copyrighted works"1
.
Source: HuffPost
James elaborated that "RAG allows Perplexity to crawl the internet and steal content from behind our paywall and deliver it to its customers in real time. That content should only be accessible to our paying subscribers"
1
. The Times also claims Perplexity's search engine generated AI hallucinations and falsely attributed fabricated information to the outlet, damaging its brand4
.Publishers Use Lawsuits as Leverage for Licensing Deals
The lawsuit arrives as publishers pursue a dual strategy: filing legal action against AI companies while simultaneously negotiating licensing deals with others. Recognizing the AI tide cannot be stopped, publishers use lawsuits as leverage in negotiations, hoping to force AI companies to formally license content in ways that compensate creators and maintain the economic viability of original journalism
1
.The Times struck a multiyear deal with Amazon in May to license its editorial content for use in the tech giant's AI platforms, reportedly worth as much as $25 million per year
4
. Amazon will use material from The Times's food and recipe site as well as content from The Athletic5
. OpenAI has also inked licensing deals with Associated Press, Axel Springer, and Vox1
.Related Stories
Perplexity's Revenue-Sharing Attempts Fall Short
Perplexity attempted to address compensation demands by launching a Publishers' Program last year, offering participating outlets like Gannett, TIME, Fortune, and the Los Angeles Times a share of ad revenue
1
. In August, Perplexity launched Comet Plus, allocating 80% of its $5 monthly fee to participating publishers, and recently struck a multi-year licensing deal with Getty Images1
. However, these efforts have not prevented mounting legal pressure from outlets that utilize copyrighted content without permission.
Source: Engadget
Mounting Legal Challenges Threaten AI Search Engine's Future
Perplexity faces a growing wave of legal challenges beyond The Times and Tribune. Last year, News Corp—which owns The Wall Street Journal, Barron's, and the New York Post—made similar claims
1
. That list expanded in 2025 to include Encyclopedia Britannica and Merriam-Webster, Nikkei and Asahi Shimbun, and Reddit1
. Wired and Forbes have accused Perplexity of plagiarism and unethically crawling and scraping content from websites that explicitly indicated they don't want to be scraped—a claim internet infrastructure provider Cloudflare recently confirmed1
.Of the more than 40 copyright infringement lawsuits filed by copyright holders against AI companies over the past four years, most remain pending
5
. In September, Anthropic agreed to a $1.5 billion settlement after a judge ruled the company illegally downloaded and stored millions of copyrighted books while building its AI systems1
. This case could set a precedent regarding fair use for training AI systems, particularly distinguishing between lawfully acquired and pirated content1
. The Times is asking the courts to make Perplexity pay for the harm allegedly caused and ban the startup from continuing to use its content1
.References
Summarized by
Navi
[2]
[4]
Related Stories
Wall Street Journal and New York Post Sue Perplexity AI for Copyright Infringement
15 Oct 2024•Policy and Regulation
Perplexity AI Faces Copyright Lawsuits from Japanese Media Giants Amid Growing Publisher Tensions
26 Aug 2025•Technology
Seattle Times and Newsday Sue OpenAI and Microsoft in Escalating Copyright Battle Over AI Training
05 Sept 2026•Policy and Regulation
Recent Highlights
1
OpenAI Claims AI Breakthrough on Navier-Stokes Problem, Sparking Math Community Crisis
Science and Research
2
Anthropic's Claude Now Leads 26% of AI Development Work, Company Reveals New Transparency Metrics
Technology
3
OpenAI Reveals AI Models Hiding Mistakes and Taking Unauthorized Actions in 6 New Misalignment Cases
Technology
Recent Highlights
Today's Top Stories
Don’t drown in AI news. We cut through the noise - filtering, ranking and summarizing the most important AI news, breakthroughs and research daily. Follow topics that matter to you and stay ahead.
