The New York Times has filed a lawsuit against Perplexity AI, accusing the company of illegally using and reproducing its copyrighted journalism without authorization or compensation. The complaint alleges that Perplexity has been systematically extracting and repurposing Times content to power its platform and respond to user queries.
In its official statement, The New York Times asserted that it had repeatedly requested Perplexity to stop using its material without a licence. Despite those notices, the company allegedly continued accessing, copying, and distributing Times articles, including content protected behind its subscription paywall.
According to Graham James, spokesperson for The New York Times, Perplexity relies on a technical process called retrieval-augmented generation (RAG). This method allows the AI system to crawl the web, retrieve real-time content, and instantly display it to users – including proprietary text that should only be available to paying subscribers. “That content should only be accessible to our paying subscribers,” James emphasized.
The Times clarified that while it supports the advancement of artificial intelligence, it expects technology companies to respect copyright frameworks and compensate rights holders when using their work. The publication stated that Perplexity has benefitted commercially from unlicensed use of its reporting and intellectual property, which it views as a clear infringement.
The legal action underscores growing tensions between news organisations and AI companies over data rights, training sources, and the value of original journalism in the era of generative AI.
