The broadcasting company CNN has filed a lawsuit against the AI company Perplexity, accusing it of illegally using content without a proper licensing agreement. This is CNN’s first copyright-related case concerning artificial intelligence technologies.
The lawsuit was filed after negotiations between CNN and Perplexity regarding a partnership ended without reaching an agreement. The broadcasting company noted that Perplexity was informed about the lack of permission to use CNN materials, yet decided to continue its activities. CNN emphasizes that it is supportive of the use of artificial intelligence, provided it complies with licensing standards. If an agreement cannot be reached, the company will uphold its rights in court.
In response, the director of communications for Perplexity, Jesse Dwyer, stated that facts are not subject to copyright. This statement reflects the position of the company, which has become the subject of lawsuits from other media giants, including The New York Times, News Corp, and Yomiuri Shimbun.
Perplexity is a startup valued at 20 billion dollars. Despite such a significant valuation, the company falls behind in financial indicators compared to other market players, such as OpenAI. Investors in Perplexity include major players like Nvidia, SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2, and the founders of Amazon and Meta.
Such legal proceedings are becoming increasingly common as media companies and tech giants strive to find a balance between copyright and innovations in the field of artificial intelligence.
| Company | Valuation as of September 2025 | ARR |
|---|---|---|
| Perplexity | $20 billion | Lags behind competitors |
| Cursor | – | $2 billion |
| Anthropic | – | $19 billion (as of the end of February) |
| OpenAI | – | $20 billion (for the past year) |
