Perplexity sued by Japanese newspapers for unauthorized article use
Nikkei Inc. and Asahi Shimbun Company sued Perplexity AI on May 14, 2026, alleging the AI search service copied their news articles without authorization and incorporated them into generated summaries since June 2024. The newspapers claimed copyright and unfair competition violations, seeking article use cessation and combined damages of 2.2 billion yen; Perplexity disputed the claims.
What happened
Nikkei Inc. and Asahi Shimbun Company filed a lawsuit against US AI company Perplexity on May 14, 2026, at Tokyo District Court, alleging unauthorized use of their news articles. The newspapers claimed Perplexity accessed their servers and copied article content without permission, including paywall-protected articles, starting from June 2024 onwards.
The newspapers argued that Perplexity violated Japan's Copyright Law by reproducing and publicly transmitting their articles through its AI search service without authorization, and violated their terms of service which prohibit storing or copying data for AI training. They also cited violations of the Unfair Competition Prevention Act, alleging that Perplexity displayed the newspapers as source references while providing inaccurate summaries that damaged their reputation.
Reported impact
The newspapers sought an immediate halt to article use and deletion of summarized content. Nikkei and Asahi each demanded a combined 2.2 billion yen in damages, comprising 1 billion yen for usage fees and an additional 1.2 billion yen for loss of business profit resulting from the provision of inaccurate generated content.
The Japanese Newspaper Association stated in April 2026 that generative AI search services threaten the business foundation of news organizations providing accurate and trustworthy information, demanding response from businesses and government.
Index analysis
Perplexity stated it operates appropriately under Japan's frameworks for search, information analysis, technical processing and citation, and disputed the newspapers' characterization of its actions, contesting jurisdiction and the specificity of claims. The company declined to provide detailed arguments at the initial hearing, indicating it would submit details later.
Governance controls
The lawsuit highlights the absence of established legal precedent and regulatory guidance for AI search services' use of news content in Japan. The dispute occurs amid similar litigation by Yomiuri Shimbun, and protests from Asahi, Nikkei, Yomiuri, Sankei, Mainichi, and Kyodo News regarding unauthorized article use by Perplexity.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.