CNN Sues Perplexity for Trademark and Copyright Infringement

Cable News Network Inc. filed a lawsuit against Perplexity AI Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on May 28, 2026. The complaint alleges that Perplexity infringed CNN's copyrights by scraping and copying more than 17,000 stories, videos, and images to train and power its AI tools.

The suit further claims Perplexity violated CNN's federally registered trademarks by falsely suggesting an affiliation or endorsement that does not exist. Perplexity allegedly promoted access to CNN premium content through its paid tier without authorization, creating a likelihood of confusion among users.

CNN seeks unspecified monetary damages and injunctive relief to prevent further unauthorized use of its intellectual property. The complaint notes that negotiations between the parties in 2025 did not result in an agreement, after which Perplexity continued its activities.

This action follows similar complaints from other news organizations against AI companies over content scraping practices.

Sources: https://variety.com/2026/biz/news/cnn-sues-perplexity-alleging-copyright-infringement-1236760987/ https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/cnn-files-suit-against-perplexity-alleging-unlawful-content-distribution-2026-05-28/ https://news.bloomberglaw.com/litigation/cnn-latest-news-outlet-to-sue-perplexity-ai-over-data-scraping