Japanese Newspaper Files Lawsuit Against U.S. AI Company

Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun, one of the world’s largest newspapers by circulation, has filed a lawsuit against U.S.-based artificial intelligence (AI) company Perplexity. The newspaper alleges that Perplexity’s search engine has been using its content without permission or payment. The lawsuit was filed last Thursday.

Yomiuri Shimbun, one of Japan’s top five daily newspapers with a daily circulation of approximately 6 million, claims that Perplexity used 120,000 of its articles without authorization between February and June. The newspaper is seeking 2.2 billion yen (approximately $14.7 million) in damages. According to the lawsuit, producing this content requires significant labor and financial resources, yet Perplexity uses it without any cost, which could “negatively impact accurate journalism and undermine the foundations of democracy,” a Yomiuri Shimbun spokesperson stated.

The lawsuit further alleges that Perplexity’s search engine provides summarized versions of Yomiuri Shimbun’s content when users search for information, reducing the need for users to visit the newspaper’s website. This has led to a decline in readership, for which the newspaper also seeks compensation. Previously, in October last year, U.S. media outlets The Wall Street Journal and The New York Post filed lawsuits against Perplexity for similar reasons. Perplexity described those lawsuits as “short-sighted, unnecessary, and self-destructive,” arguing that media organizations prefer a world where they retain ownership of published information, and no one can use it without payment. Yomiuri Shimbun, which once had a daily circulation exceeding 10 million in 2010, employs around 2,500 reporters. Attempts to contact Perplexity for comment on the lawsuit were unsuccessful.

Share This Post

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Print

শেয়ার করুন