Dow Jones & Company and NYP Holdings, two major media companies that own outlets such as The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post, have filed a joint lawsuit against Perplexity AI in New York. The lawsuit, shared with PCMag, accuses Perplexity of illegally using copyrighted content from the media companies and diverting revenue away from them.

The lawsuit argues that the journalists at these outlets work hard and sometimes put themselves at risk to uncover important stories, with the goal of making the world a better place. However, Perplexity AI is allegedly using their hard work to create a “substitute product” that copies and repackages their content, sometimes word for word. Even if the AI’s output is different from the original source, the act of ingesting and storing the data is still considered a copyright violation.

The lawsuit also claims that Perplexity’s use of the data is not considered “fair use” and tarnishes the reputation of well-established news outlets by associating them with potentially false information. News Corp, the parent company of both Dow Jones & Company and NYP Holdings, had previously sent a legal letter to Perplexity demanding they stop their activity, but received no response, leading to the lawsuit.

News Corp CEO Robert Thomson stated that Perplexity’s actions harm journalists, writers, and publishers, and that the company will vigorously pursue any other AI companies that engage in similar practices. He also praised companies like OpenAI, who have shown integrity and respect for intellectual property in their use of AI technology. Thomson concludes by saying that while they would prefer to collaborate with AI companies, they will not hesitate to take legal action to protect their content and the hard work of their employees.