Core Viewpoint - Japanese news agencies Nikkei and Asahi have filed a lawsuit against the American startup Perplexity for allegedly infringing copyright by using AI to collect and utilize news articles without permission, seeking 2.2 billion yen in damages from each agency [2][5]. Group 1: Lawsuit Details - The lawsuit was filed on August 26, 2023, in the Tokyo District Court, marking a significant legal action against AI operators in Japan [2]. - Perplexity is accused of ignoring technical measures to prevent unauthorized access to Nikkei and Asahi's servers since at least June 2024, generating and providing summary articles that violate Japan's Copyright Law [4]. - The summaries provided by Perplexity contain errors and misrepresent the original articles, damaging the reputation of the news agencies and violating Japan's Unfair Competition Prevention Law [4]. Group 2: Claims and Demands - Nikkei and Asahi are demanding a court order to prohibit Perplexity from using related articles and to delete the summary content, in addition to claiming 2.2 billion yen for damages due to commercial harm [5]. - The unauthorized content includes articles from Nikkei's paid subscription service and articles provided to Yahoo News by Asahi [4]. Group 3: Industry Context - Perplexity, founded in 2022 by OpenAI engineers, has gained attention as a promising startup in the AI search field, backed by notable investors including Jeff Bezos and Nvidia [5]. - The company reportedly serves over 15 million users globally each month and collaborates with SoftBank to provide AI search services in Japan [5]. - Concerns regarding potential copyright infringement by Perplexity have been echoed by various media outlets, with ongoing litigation from Dow Jones, which owns The Wall Street Journal [5].