Japanese Media Giants Sue AI Firm Perplexity Over Copyright Violations

Nikkei Inc. and The Asahi Shimbun have launched a joint lawsuit against Perplexity, demanding $29 million in damages for alleged copyright infringement. The Tokyo District Court filing accuses the AI search engine of scraping and storing proprietary articles while bypassing technical protections.

The publishers claim Perplexity's summarization tools distorted their reporting, potentially damaging credibility. This follows similar U.S. litigation involving Dow Jones, highlighting growing tensions between AI firms and content creators.

In a conciliatory move, Perplexity announced a $42.5 million publisher revenue-sharing program, offering 80% of subscription fees to content partners. The initiative comes as legal pressures mount across multiple jurisdictions.