CNN Sues Perplexity AI Over Copyrighted Content Use

Cable News Network filed a lawsuit against Perplexity AI in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on May 28, 2026. The network alleges the AI search engine unlawfully crawled, scraped, and distributed more than 17,000 pieces of content, including videos, images, and paywalled articles. CNN claims Perplexity reproduced verbatim copies in user responses to provide competing content, which undermines the economic incentives for original newsgathering.

Beyond copyright infringement, the lawsuit alleges trademark violations, claiming Perplexity attributed hallucinated content to the network. The legal action follows a failed attempt by CNN to negotiate a licensing agreement with the AI firm in 2025. CNN is now seeking unspecified monetary damages and a court order to prevent further intellectual property violations.

Perplexity has denied the allegations. Chief Communications Officer Jesse Dwyer argued that the company's practices are lawful because facts cannot be copyrighted. This litigation is part of a broader trend of disputes between generative AI developers and content creators; Perplexity faces similar lawsuits from The New York Times, Dow Jones, Reddit, and the Chicago Tribune. Other media groups, such as TIME and Le Monde, have instead chosen to establish licensing partnerships.