InShort: Japanese newspaper files lawsuit against US AI company

AFP :

Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper, one of the world’s biggest by circulation, is suing U.S.-based AI firm Perplexity for allegedly “free-riding” on its content on its search engine.

The lawsuit filed Thursday is one of a slew by media companies worldwide against AI firms using their material and is the first by a major Japanese news organization, Yomiuri said.

It accuses Perplexity of “free-riding on the results of the activities of news organizations, which have invested a great deal of effort and expense.”

A spokesman for the paper added that this “could have a negative impact on accurate journalism … and shake the foundations of democracy.”

The lawsuit filed in Tokyo seeks damages of ¥2.2 billion equivalent to 120,000 Yomuiri articles used “without permission” between February and June.

It is also seeking damages for lost advertising revenue, saying that Perplexity users click only on its search summaries and not on the newspaper’s website, reducing traffic.