Perplexity sued by Japanese media giants for stealing information and presenting false information (www.engadget.com)

Japanese media giants Nikkei and Asahi Shimbun have filed a joint lawsuit against AI startup Perplexity, accusing it of illegally copying and storing their article content and presenting inaccurate information attributed to them. Seeking $15 million in damages each, the publishers warn that Perplexity’s actions threaten the integrity of journalism by appropriating journalists’ painstakingly researched work without compensation. This legal move highlights growing tensions between traditional media and AI companies over content use, copyright, and accountability. The lawsuit arrives just a day after Perplexity unveiled a subscription-based revenue-sharing model offering “premium content” from trusted publishers for $5 per month, with 80% of the revenue going to participating media. However, critics argue the payment falls well short of conventional newspaper subscription prices, raising questions about fair compensation. Meanwhile, prior investigations by Cloudflare and reports from Forbes and Wired accuse Perplexity of aggressive web scraping tactics, including bypassing robots.txt restrictions and impersonating browsers to harvest content covertly. This case underscores the broader challenges AI firms face in balancing innovation with ethical content sourcing amid escalating scrutiny. It emphasizes the urgent need for transparent partnerships and clear licensing agreements between AI platforms and publishers to sustainably harness journalistic material while respecting intellectual property rights.