AI Search Engine Fights Copyright Claims

Perplexity AI has formally requested a U.S. judge to dismiss several claims brought forth by The New York Times and Chicago Tribune. The artificial intelligence search engine company argues that its responses to user queries do not violate the newspapers' rights. The company's filing in New York federal court on March 2, 2026, stated it cannot be held liable when its 'Answer Engine' results incorporate content from these publications.

While Perplexity AI did not seek to dismiss the core allegation that it misuses newspaper articles for AI training, it maintained this claim would ultimately fail based on intellectual property law. Lawyers for the newspapers stated that Perplexity copies journalism from behind paywalls to serve its customers in real time. The newspapers initially sued Perplexity in December 2025, alleging the AI startup's business model depends on illegally scraping and copying millions of their articles.

Perplexity AI also requested the dismissal of claims related to trademark rights violations. This case is part of a broader trend of high-stakes lawsuits targeting tech companies that argue their AI training constitutes fair use of copyrighted material. Perplexity faces similar legal challenges from other media entities.