OpenAI Strikes Deal to License News Corp Content for AI Learning
OpenAI can now use new and archived material from The Wall Street Journal, The New York Post, MarketWatch and Barron’s to educate and update AI systems.
News Corp, the Rupert Murdoch-owned media right-wing conglomerate behind publications like The Wall Street Journal and The New York Post, announced on Wednesday that it has entered into an agreement with OpenAI to provide content for training and servicing artificial intelligence chatbots.
Under the multiyear agreement, OpenAI will have access to both current and archived news content from News Corp's leading news outlets. This includes various brands in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia, as well as MarketWatch and Barron’s, but excludes content from News Corp’s other ventures, such as its digital real estate services and HarperCollins.
Robert Thomson, the CEO of News Corp, and Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, thanked each other for the partnership, and Altman added it is “a proud moment for journalism and technology.”
The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. According to The Wall Street Journal, the agreement could be valued at up to $250 million over five years, based on unnamed sources. A News Corp spokesperson declined to comment on these reports.
Many publishers and media outlets are apprehensive about the impact of generative A.I., which uses copyrighted content to train its models and serve its chatbots. There are particular concerns about A.I. answering online search queries without compensating publishers for the use of their content. In December, The New York Times sued OpenAI and Microsoft for copyright infringement, accusing them of using millions of its news articles without permission. In April, eight daily newspapers owned by Alden Global Capital filed a similar suit against OpenAI and Microsoft.
Other publishers have been negotiating deals with tech companies. OpenAI has already reached agreements with German publishing giant Axel Springer, Dotdash Meredith, The Financial Times, and The Associated Press, among others.