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Kyodo News has lodged a formal protest against U.S.-based Perplexity AI Inc., accusing the fast-growing artificial intelligence firm of using Kyodo’s news articles without permission to generate content for its AI-powered search engine.
In a letter sent Monday, Kyodo demanded that Perplexity immediately halt the use of its articles published on the website 47 News—a platform featuring content from Kyodo and its 48 member newspapers—and compensate for damages related to the unauthorized use of its distributed news reports. Kyodo also issued a public press release outlining the protest.
Major Japanese newspapers Mainichi Shimbun and Sankei Shimbun, both of which subscribe to Kyodo’s wire services, sent similar letters of protest the same day.
The dispute comes amid a wave of legal challenges filed by Japan’s major media groups against Perplexity. In August, three newspaper companies under Yomiuri Shimbun Holdings filed a damages lawsuit in the Tokyo District Court, alleging that the California-based startup scraped and reproduced their content without permission. The same month, Nikkei Inc. and The Asahi Shimbun Co. also filed suit alleging copyright infringement.
According to Kyodo, server logs show that Perplexity accessed the 47 News website “hundreds of thousands of times” over roughly one year beginning in August 2024.
“These accesses have been utilized to collect and reproduce articles originally distributed by Kyodo and generate responses to users’ queries, without necessary permission. These acts clearly constitute copyright infringement,” the protest letter said.
Kyodo also criticized Perplexity for displaying AI-generated responses that reference Kyodo’s articles but contain information “differing from the actual content,” claiming the practice has “significantly damaged the trust and brand value” of its reporting.
The Tokyo-based news agency urged Perplexity to disclose the methods it used to collect Kyodo’s articles and to reveal all AI-generated responses that relied on Kyodo content. The agency said it will pursue legal measures if Perplexity fails to comply.
Kyodo noted that the two companies had held discussions regarding content usage and compensation, but Perplexity ended communication in November of last year.
On Monday, Kyodo’s 48 member newspapers also jointly issued a statement condemning the unauthorized scraping and use of news content by Perplexity, marking a unified stance among Japan’s major media institutions against the AI firm’s data practices. (ILKHA)
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