Yomiuri Shimbun Sues AI Startup Perplexity for Copyright Infringement
2025-08-12
Japan's largest newspaper, the Yomiuri Shimbun, has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against generative AI startup Perplexity. This marks the first major copyright challenge by a Japanese news publisher against an AI company. The suit alleges Perplexity accessed and reproduced over 100,000 Yomiuri articles without authorization, using them to answer user queries. Yomiuri is seeking nearly $15 million in damages and a cease-and-desist order. While Japanese law permits AI training on copyrighted material, it doesn't allow for unauthorized reproduction and distribution. The lawsuit highlights growing tensions between AI companies and news publishers over copyright in the age of AI.
Tech
Yomiuri Shimbun