The New York Times has filed a lawsuit against the AI startup Perplexity, accusing the company of producing and profiting from responses that are “verbatim or substantially similar copies” of the publication’s copyrighted content. The legal action marks a significant escalation in the ongoing dispute between major news organizations and AI companies that use their content to train and power generative models. In the lawsuit, The Times argues that Perplexity’s AI system reproduces its articles in a way that directly substitutes the need for users to visit the publication’s website or subscribe to its services. “By copying The Times’s copyrighted content and creating substitutive output derived from its works, obviating the need for users to visit The Times’s website or purchase its newspaper, Perplexity is misappropriating substantial subscription, advertising, licensing, and affiliate revenue opportunities that belong rightfully and exclusively to The Times,” the complaint states. The publication is seeking financial damages and is also requesting a permanent injunction to stop Perplexity from continuing what it describes as unlawful use of its content. The lawsuit underscores broader concerns among media companies about how AI firms are leveraging news content without permission or compensation. In response, Perplexity spokesperson Jesse Dwyer issued a statement to The Verge, expressing skepticism about the legal strategy. “Publishers have been suing new tech companies for a hundred years, starting with radio, TV, the internet, social media and now AI,” Dwyer said. “Fortunately it’s never worked, or we’d all be talking about this by telegraph.”