Perplexity AI sued by CNN for allegedly copying over 17,000 pieces of content without permission

CNN filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against Perplexity. The complaint alleges Perplexity unlawfully copied more than 17,000 CNN stories, videos, images, and other materials to support its products and tools. The lawsuit also alleges trademark violations, including falsely claiming affiliation with CNN. CNN previously negotiated a partnership in October 2025 that would have allowed Perplexity to access paywalled CNN content for Comet Plus users in exchange for compensation. The deal ended in November 2025 after disagreements, and CNN blocked Perplexity’s AI bot from accessing its content. The complaint says Perplexity continued using CNN content and trademarks after being told to stop.

"Filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, the lawsuit is CNN's first legal case against an AI company. The suit outlined how in addition to copyright infringement, Perplexity also allegedly violated CNN's trademarks by falsely claiming an affiliation between the brand and CNN."

"The lawsuit, filed on Thursday, claims that Perplexity copied over 17,000 of CNN's stories, videos, images and more to support its products and tools. "[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 in a statement."

"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. However, the deal fell through in November 2025 due to CNN and Perplexity's 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."

""As a result, before and after Perplexity's negotiations with CNN, Perplexity knew that it was not permitted to access CNN's content or to use its trademarks or service marks," the lawsuit states. In December 2025, CNN wrote to Perplexity's then head of legal and operations demanding a stop to all unauthorized use of CNN's name and content. Perplexity allegedly never responded to CNN's letter and continued use of CNN's content."

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