CNN today opened a lawsuit against the AI firm Perplexity AI Inc., alleging the company has violated copyright protections by using artificial intelligence to rewrite its reporting, thereby undermining the foundation of its economic model.

The network now joins a long line of publishers that have sued AI firms for copyright infringement. It’s also not the first Perplexity has found itself being sued. The New York Times filed a lawsuit against the company in 2024, and the newspaper also launched similar lawsuits against Microsoft Corp. and Open AI Group PBC.

“CNN’s lawsuit stands for the proposition that 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,” said a CNN spokesperson. “The public rely 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.”

Perplexity’s Chief Communications Officer Jesse Dwyer countered by saying, “You can’t copyright facts.”

According to the filing lodged with the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, CNN may at first have attempted to strike a content licensing deal with Perplexity, just as several publishers have done over the last few years with various AI companies. Last year, CNN made such an agreement with Meta Platforms Inc.

The lawsuit states that there were previously “negotiations” between the parties, which CNN now claims in evidence that “Perplexity knew that it was not permitted to access CNN’s content or to use its trademarks or service marks.”

The lawsuit shows the companies had come to an arrangement in 2025 in which Perplexity would compensate CNN for the use of its content, but it seems the deal fell through and later in the year CNN demanded Perplexity stop using its content and name. The lawsuit alleges Perplexity didn’t respond to the warning and continued to use the content.

“Perplexity’s use infringes CNN’s exclusive rights in its federally registered trademarks, and has caused and is likely to cause confusion, mistake, or deception as to whether the articles Perplexity provides are associated or affiliated with, or are sponsored, endorsed, or approved by CNN,” the complaint reads. “Perplexity’s use is intended to reap the benefit of consumers’ trust in CNN.”

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