Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas / Wikipedia
Nikkei and Asahi Shimbun newspapers have sued artificial intelligence startup Perplexity AI over alleged copyright infringement, joining other media outlets in Japan and the US that are challenging the use of their content in AI tools.
As Delo.ua writes, this was reported by The Japan Times.
The newspapers are seeking an injunction against the use of their content and damages of ¥2.2 billion (about $15 million) each from Perplexity, the lawsuit said in a joint statement on Tuesday. The lawsuit was filed in the Tokyo District Court.
The legal action by Nikkei, the owner of Japan's largest financial newspaper, and the left-leaning Asahi highlights a growing divide between publishers and AI companies over who controls and profits from the distribution of news.
The media industry claims that AI tools that use their work without a license are stealing readers and advertising revenue, threatening already fragile business models.
“ These actions constitute a sustained and massive gratuitous use of journalists' time and effort , “ the Nikkei and Asahi said in a statement. ” If left unchecked, it could undermine all media outlets that strive to accurately report the facts, and ultimately shake the very foundations of democracy . “
Courts in Japan, the US and Europe are now becoming key arenas for a battle that could set precedents for how copyright law applies to generative artificial intelligence.
Perplexity, based in San Francisco, has also been targeted by Forbes, Dow Jones (News Corp.) and Yomiuri Shimbun.
According to the newspapers, Perplexity, valued at $18 billion in its latest funding round, had been reproducing and storing content from Nikkei and Asahi since at least June of last year. The AI startup’s search results ignored codes indicating that the content was unusable and also contained errors attributed to the media, damaging the newspapers’ reputations.
