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AI legal risk

Abstract digital network representing CFO concerns about AI governance, costs and business risk.

93% of CFOs Say Their Companies Use AI, but Only 43% Trust Their Governance

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59% said pressure to deploy AI quickly while managing its risks is their biggest governance challenge.

Key Takeaways

  • 93% of surveyed CFOs said their companies use AI across multiple business functions, but only 43% were confident in their AI governance.
  • 59% said balancing pressure to deploy AI quickly with managing its risks was their biggest governance challenge.
  • 46% cited uncertainty or limited transparency into AI costs as their leading internal concern (e.g., usage-based pricing).
  • 33% said their chief information security officer owns AI governance, while 19% said the CFO holds primary responsibility.

Deloitte’s second-quarter 2026 CFO Signals survey found that 93% of CFOs said their companies use AI across multiple business functions. Only 43% were confident in their companies’ AI governance, while 53.5% were somewhat confident.

The survey covered 200 CFOs at North American organizations with at least $1 billion in annual revenue.

AI governance struggles to keep pace

The pressure to move quickly was the most common obstacle to stronger AI governance. Nearly 6 in 10 CFOs said balancing rapid deployment with managing risk was their biggest challenge.

Cost uncertainty or limited transparency of AI expenditures was the leading internal concern, selected by 46% of CFOs.

35% of CFOs also cited a lack of confidence in using AI for important business operations. One-quarter were concerned about AI mistakes that could harm a company’s finances or reputation.

Legal and cybersecurity risks lead external concerns

The most common external concern was potential litigation involving protected or private content, including copyright infringement or IP violations, at 43%. Cybersecurity followed at 41%.

The survey echoes other industry reports highlighting AI security concerns, including two surveys we report on: the 2026 SANS AI Survey and Darktrace’s State of AI Cybersecurity 2026 report.

The role of AI in Finance departments

AI is now in the daily work of finance departments. 51% of CFOs said their teams use it for operational tasks such as organizing meeting transcripts and drafting emails.

Another 44% use AI for financial planning and budgeting, while 41% use it to analyze financial data.

Who’s in charge of AI?

Responsibility for AI governance varies across companies. 33% of CFOs said their chief information security officer (CISO) owns AI governance, while 19% said they hold the greatest responsibility themselves.

That placed CFOs ahead of CEOs at 12%, AI governance committees at 8%, boards and board audit committees at 4.5%, and chief risk officers at 0.5%.

CNN logo sign outside the network's headquarters, used in coverage of CNN's copyright and trademark lawsuit against Perplexity AI.

CNN Sues Perplexity AI for Copying Over 17,000 Copyrighted Works

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The complaint alleges Perplexity scraped CNN’s content to power its AI answer engine, reproduced paywalled articles verbatim, and fabricated a CNN partnership that does not exist.

 

On May 28, 2026, CNN filed a lawsuit against Perplexity AI in federal court alleging the AI company scraped and reproduced more than 17,000 of CNN’s articles, videos, and other works to power its products without authorization or compensation. The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, brings claims for copyright infringement under the Copyright Act and trademark violations under the Lanham Act.

 

What CNN alleges Perplexity did

CNN’s complaint describes violations at two stages.

At the input stage, Perplexity used its own web crawlers, PerplexityBot and Perplexity-User, to scrape CNN’s digital platforms and copy its content into an AI search index used to generate responses. CNN also alleges that Perplexity ignored the instructions CNN placed on its website telling automated bots not to access or copy its content. The complaint cites findings by Cloudflare researchers who reported in August 2025 that Perplexity used undisclosed crawlers to impersonate Google Chrome on macOS and access content even after sites explicitly blocked its declared bots.

At the output stage, CNN provides side-by-side examples showing Perplexity’s chatbot, Comet browser, and Search and Agent APIs reproducing CNN articles verbatim, including content behind CNN’s paywall. One example shows Perplexity’s Agent API reproducing an entire CNN article in response to a user prompt. Another shows Perplexity’s Comet browser bypassing CNN’s paywall and delivering the full text of a subscription article to a user who had not paid CNN.

CNN also alleges trademark violations. When asked about Perplexity’s Comet Plus subscription tier, the chatbot told users they could access CNN’s premium content through it, a claim CNN says is false.

The complaint notes that in 2024, Perplexity paid $8 million to Anthropic and OpenAI for model access, $48 million for cloud services, and $19 million for talent, while paying nothing to CNN or other publishers whose content powers its products.

 

CNN and Perplexity: Almost Partners

In October 2025, CNN and Perplexity negotiated a partnership allowing Perplexity’s Comet browser to access CNN’s paywalled content for a fee. The deal fell apart by November 2025, with CNN citing unresolved disagreements over limits on Perplexity’s use of CNN content.

CNN had blocked PerplexityBot before and during those negotiations. In December 2025, CNN sent Perplexity a cease-and-desist letter. Perplexity did not respond, and CNN alleges that Perplexity continued to use its content.

 

Other content providers are suing Perplexity as well

This case joins a growing list of similar suits against Perplexity. The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Merriam-Webster, and Dow Jones all filed comparable claims. In August 2025, the Dow Jones court denied Perplexity’s motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction, finding the company’s New York office, employees, and targeted advertising sufficient to establish jurisdiction.