OpenAI has announced a multiyear partnership with News Corp, valued at up to $250 million over five years. This deal comes as tech giants like Microsoft, OpenAI, and Google face increasing scrutiny over the use of copyrighted content to train their AI models without explicit consent.
Under the terms of the agreement, OpenAI will gain access to both current and archived content from News Corp’s extensive portfolio, including publications such as The Wall Street Journal, the New York Post, the Times, the Sunday Times, Barron’s, and MarketWatch. This access is intended to enhance OpenAI’s products, likely by training its artificial intelligence models, and displaying content from these mastheads in response to user questions.
News Corp will also contribute journalistic expertise to ensure that high standards of journalism are maintained across OpenAI’s offerings. This collaboration is poised to influence how AI models handle and present news content, aiming to merge cutting-edge technology with rigorous journalistic principles.
Despite the potential benefits, several questions remain unanswered. It is unclear whether the deal includes editorial or opinion content and whether the integrated content will be part of ChatGPT’s paid model (GPT-4) or available in the free version. This uncertainty adds to the broader concerns about data ownership and the ethical use of copyrighted material.
In recent months, OpenAI has secured similar deals with other media giants, including The Associated Press, Axel Springer in Germany, Prisa Media in Spain, France’s Le Monde, and the Financial Times. The necessity for diverse and high-quality training data for AI systems has also led OpenAI to engage with platforms like Reddit. These licensing agreements typically allow OpenAI to utilize content for training purposes, ensuring more accurate and contextually relevant AI responses.
However, the inclusion of News Corp’s content in OpenAI’s AI models, especially for direct user interactions, marks a new phase in these partnerships. OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, described the deal as transformative, emphasizing its significance for both the future of journalism and technological innovation.
The deal also brings to light the unresolved issue of data ownership. The New York Times has taken a different stance, suing OpenAI and Microsoft for billions, accusing them of using its paywalled content without permission to enhance their AI models. This legal battle highlights the tension between media companies and tech giants over content usage rights and compensation.
The impact of this new deal on News Corp’s workforce remains uncertain. According to a report in The Guardian, layoffs are expected at News Corp next week, raising concerns about how such partnerships might affect journalists and editors. As the industry navigates these complex dynamics, the collaboration between OpenAI and News Corp could set a precedent for future AI and media partnerships.
For more details on the agreement, you can read the full report on PRWeek.