TLDR: A U.S. District Court judge has denied Perplexity AI Inc.’s motion to dismiss a copyright infringement lawsuit brought by Dow Jones & Co. and NYP Holdings Inc., publishers of The Wall Street Journal and New York Post. The ruling, issued on August 21, 2025, confirms the Manhattan court’s jurisdiction, allowing the case alleging “massive amounts” of unauthorized content copying to proceed.
New York, NY – August 24, 2025 – A significant legal battle in the evolving landscape of artificial intelligence and intellectual property is set to move forward, as a U.S. District Court judge has ruled against AI startup Perplexity AI Inc.’s attempt to dismiss a copyright infringement lawsuit. On Thursday, August 21, 2025, Judge Katherine Polk Failla of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York denied Perplexity’s motions to dismiss the case for lack of jurisdiction or improper venue, and to transfer it to California. This decision ensures that the Manhattan court will retain jurisdiction over the claims brought by Dow Jones & Co. and NYP Holdings Inc., the parent companies of The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post, respectively.
The lawsuit, initially filed on October 21, 2024, accuses Perplexity AI of “massive amounts of illegal copying” of copyrighted journalistic content. The publishers allege that Perplexity’s AI-driven search engine scrapes vast quantities of their articles without permission, subsequently using this information to generate direct responses to user queries. These responses, according to the plaintiffs, are designed to act as a substitute for visiting the original news websites, thereby undermining their readership and revenue.
This legal action highlights the escalating tensions between traditional media organizations and burgeoning AI companies over the unauthorized use of copyrighted material for training and operating AI systems. Dow Jones and NYP Holdings are seeking redress for what they describe as Perplexity’s “brazen scheme to compete for readers while simultaneously free riding on the valuable content the publishers produce.”
Perplexity, which sources and summarizes information from webpages directly within its platform, has been actively working to establish itself in the search engine market. The company reportedly began the year with a valuation of $520 million and is seeking to more than double this to over $8 billion in its next funding round. In an effort to address publisher concerns, Perplexity debuted a revenue-sharing model earlier this year, with Fortune, Time, and Entrepreneur reportedly joining the program.
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However, this initiative has not deterred all publishers from pursuing legal avenues. The New York Times previously sent Perplexity a cease-and-desist notice, and other prominent media entities like Forbes and Condé Nast have also threatened legal action. The court’s recent decision to allow the Dow Jones and New York Post case to proceed marks a critical development, setting the stage for a potentially landmark ruling that could significantly influence how AI companies interact with copyrighted content in the future.
