ANKARA 

A Japanese news agency on Monday lodged a protest with a US-based artificial intelligence (AI) generative company on "unauthorized" use of its articles, demanding compensation.

In a letter to California-based Perplexity AI, Inc. (PAI), Kyodo News President Toshimitsu Sawai asked the US startup to "immediately" stop using its articles published on the website 47 News, and compensate for "damages."

The news agency warned of litigation if PAI does not accept its demand.

There was no immediate response from PAI.

"Kyodo News has confirmed that its distributed articles are being reproduced and used by PAI without any permission, and that PAI has repeatedly accessed the website titled "47 NEWS" which features articles created by Kyodo News hundreds of thousands of times over a period of approximately one year starting in August 2024," the letter read.

The letter further alleged that PAI displays generated content containing errors while citing Kyodo News' name and articles, which "significantly damages the trust and brand value" of the Tokyo-based wire service.

It asserted that PAI's service infringes upon the news agency's reproduction right, and constitutes an "unfair competition" that is set forth in the Japanese Unfair Competition Prevention Act.

PAI's conduct, which repeatedly "free-rides" on these articles without any license fees or royalties, is absolutely unacceptable, the letter further said, adding that this "unrestrained" copyright infringement will destroy the accurate and sound reporting that serves as the foundation of democracy.