Wall Street Journal and New York Post sue Perplexity AI over copyright infringement

The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post have filed a lawsuit against Perplexity AI, alleging extensive copyright infringement and trademark violations. The lawsuit, filed Monday in a federal court in New York, accuses Perplexity of illegally copying and reproducing copyrighted content to power its AI-driven “answer engine.”

Perplexity, a rapidly growing Silicon Valley startup, has gained attention for its AI-powered search engine, often cited as a potential competitor to Google. The platform distinguishes itself with a minimalist, conversational interface that delivers ready-made answers, along with links to source material, providing users with immediate information without needing to click through to the original websites.

The lawsuit claims Perplexity’s business model unfairly capitalizes on the content of the Wall Street Journal and the New York Post, diverting traffic and revenue from the publications. The complaint characterizes this behavior as “massive freeriding,” arguing that Perplexity’s AI platform “usurps content creators’ monetization opportunities for itself,” while failing to direct traffic back to the original publishers.

Unlike traditional search engines, Perplexity offers instant, compiled answers on its webpage, which plaintiffs argue eliminates the need for users to visit the source websites. This practice, according to the lawsuit, undermines the business model of the Wall Street Journal and the New York Post, both of which rely on traffic-driven revenue.

The publishers are seeking injunctive relief, as well as statutory damages of up to $150,000 per infringement. In addition, they are requesting the destruction of any databases containing their copyrighted works. The lawsuit further accuses Perplexity of damaging the reputations of both publications by attributing false information to their brands.

Perplexity, backed by high-profile investors including Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and AI giant Nvidia, has not yet responded to the allegations.

This lawsuit follows a similar complaint by The New York Times, which recently issued a cease and desist letter to Perplexity. The Times previously filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, accusing it of using copyrighted content to train its AI models without permission. Notably, News Corp, which owns the Wall Street Journal and the New York Post, has reached a content agreement with OpenAI, but the suit claims that Perplexity has ignored requests to enter into such partnerships.