Top Japan News Outlets Sue AI Startup Perplexity for Copyright Violations

The Perplexity AI assistant app on a smartphone.
Photographer: Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg

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By Mayumi Negishi

August 26, 2025 at 7:04 AM UTC

Updated on

August 27, 2025 at 1:19 AM UTC

Nikkei Inc. and the Asahi Shimbun Co. sued artificial-intelligence startup Perplexity AI Inc. for copyright infringement, joining other news organizations in Japan and the US that are challenging the use of their content in AI tools.

The newspapers are seeking an injunction and ¥2.2 billion ($15 million) each in damages from Perplexity, they said in a joint statement Tuesday. The suit was filed at the Tokyo District Court.