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This year was the year many publishers took a formalized stance on AI companies, many of which resulted in deals between the two.
The wave was first started by an agreement between the Associated Press and OpenAI in July 2023, followed by another agreement between OpenAI and Politico, Business Insider, Bild and Welt owner Axel Springer.
The deals are typically content licensing agreements where publishers let AI companies use their content to train large language models (often including paid content). In exchange, publishers get attribution for content that appears on AI companies’ chatbots or search platforms, as well as access to technology that publishers can use to build AI-powered products and features.
Which major publishers have yet to sign major deals with AI companies? A number of media companies have decided to take a different route and take legal action against AI companies. The New York Times sued Microsoft and OpenAI in December 2023, claim his copyrighted articles have been used to train artificial intelligence models. Likewise Raw Story, AlterNet, The Intercept in February, eight journals in April and a group of Canadian news publishers in November. News Corp sued Perplexity in October claims the company violated copyright and trademark laws by misusing content from The Wall Street Journal and The New York Post.
Here’s a list of all the major deals signed between publishers and AI tech companies in 2024, in chronological order:
March 13: Le Monde, Prisa & OpenAI
Two major European publishers — French newspaper Le Monde and Spanish media company Prisa Media — signs a content license agreement with OpenAI’s generative AI to aggregate their news content into the ChatGPT chatbot with attribution. Publishers agree to use OpenAI technology to create and develop AI-based products and projects.
“There is also the benefit of consolidating our business model by providing a significant source of additional multi-year revenue, including an interest in adjacent rights. A “reasonable and fair” portion of these rights, as defined by law, will be returned to the editor,” he wrote Louis Dreyfus, CEO of Le Monde, in a post announcing the deal.
April 29: Financial Times & OpenAI
British business publication Financial Times signed a contract with OpenAI. FT chief executive John Ridding said in a statement that AI platforms should “pay publishers for the use of their material” and that AI products should “contain reliable sources”.
The deal is worth 5 to 10 million dollars a yearIt was reported by The Wall Street Journal.
April 29: Axel Springer & Microsoft
Axel Springer expands its partnership with Microsoft develop new AI-driven products that work together across advertising, content and cloud computing. The news publisher will use Microsoft Advertising’s Chat Ads API to monetize chat-based experiences and will partner with a tech company to launch AI-powered chat.
May 7: Dotdash Meredith & OpenAI
Dotdash Meredith signed a contract with OpenAI. As part of the deal, OpenAI technology will be used to enhance the company’s D/Cipher ad targeting tool. An agreement was later reported is worth at least $16 million.
“We have not been shy about the fact that AI platforms should pay publishers for their content and that that content must be properly attributed,” Neil Vogel, CEO of Dotdash Meredith, said in a statement. “This agreement is a testament to the great work OpenAI is doing on both fronts to connect with creators and publishers to ensure a healthy Internet for the future.”
May 8: Informa & Microsoft
UK-based B2B publisher Informa signs a contract with Microsoftwhich will give the tech company access to its data until 2027. The FT reported that the deal is worth more than $10 million in his first year.
May 22: News Corp, OpenAI
News Corp signs five-year content licensing deal with OpenAI, worth over $250 millionIt was reported by The Wall Street Journal.
“We believe the historic agreement will set new standards for truth, virtue and value in the digital age,” News Corp CEO Robert Thomson said in a statement.
May 29: The Atlantic, Vox Media & OpenAI
on the same day Atlantic and Vox Media announces stand-alone deals with OpenAI.
“We believe that people searching using AI models will be one of the fundamental ways people navigate the web in the future,” Nicholas Thompson, CEO of The Atlantic, said in a statement.
Atlantic’s product team will gain access to OpenAI technology – to provide feedback on new features in ChatGPT and other OpenAI products, and to build a new experimental site called Atlantic Labs to develop AI-based products and features.
Vox Media will use OpenAI technology to improve its first-party data platform Forte and to discover content and recommendations on its sites.
June 27: Time & OpenAI
Time and OpenAI sign a multi-year contractwhich allows OpenAI to access 100 years of Time content.
July 30: Time, Der Spiegel, Fortune, Entrepreneur, The Texas Tribune & Perplexity
Five publishers — and WordPress owner Automattic — join a revenue sharing program offers AI search engine Perplexity. Time, Der Spiegel, Fortune, Entrepreneur and The Texas Tribune may receive revenue from advertising displayed on the Perplexity platform, business that will launch later in November.
August 6: Financial Times, Axel Springer, The Atlantic, Fortune & ProRata
The Financial Times, Axel Springer, The Atlantic, Fortune (and Universal Music Group) agree to license their content to generative AI startup ProRata.ai. Agreement offers 50% subscription revenue created from an AI search engine, Axios announced, which later starts in December.
August 20: Condé Nast & OpenAI
Condé Nast Enters into Multi-Year Content Licensing Agreement with OpenAI.
“In the past decade, news and digital media have faced major challenges as many technology companies have eroded publishers’ ability to monetize content, most recently through traditional search. Our partnership with OpenAI is beginning to offset some of that revenue and allows us to continue to protect and invest in our journalism and creative efforts,” CEO Roger Lynch writes. in an internal company report.
October 1: FT, Reuters, Axel Springer, Hearst, USA Today Network & Microsoft
Four publishers are signing up to have their content appear on Copilot Daily, Microsoft’s new feature in its Copilot AI assistant that provides news summaries. Microsoft will pay The Financial Times, Reuters, Axel Springer, Hearst and the USA Today Network will be part of the product, TechCrunch reported.
October 8: Hearst & OpenAI
Hearst announces new license agreement with OpenAI, which will include content from its 20 magazines and more than 40 local newspapers.
“Our partnership with OpenAI will help us develop the future of magazine content,” said Hearst Magazines President Debi Chirichella. “This collaboration ensures that our high-quality writing and expertise, cultural and historical context, and attribution and credibility are supported as OpenAI products evolve.”
October 25: Reuters & Meta
Reuters and Meta sign a multi-year deal that will be paid to enable Meta’s AI chatbot to use Reuters content to answer users’ questions about news in real time, This was reported by Axios. The Meta AI chatbot is available across the company’s platforms, including Facebook, Whatsapp and Instagram.
20 November: DMG media, Sky News, Guardian & ProRata
UK-based media companies DMG Media, Sky News and Guardian Media Group sign content license agreements with ProRata. DMG Media is also “significantly investing” in ProRata, Press Gazette informed about it.
“DMG media is delighted to enter into a business partnership with ProRata and to become the first UK news publisher to invest in an equity stake in this cutting-edge platform,” said Rich Caccappolo, Vice President of DMG Media, adding: “It could to be the cornerstone of a sustainable economic model for news publishers that gives them an incentive to continue to invest in high-quality informative journalism.”
December 5: 14 publishers and confusion
It adds to the confusion 14 other publishers to its revenue sharing program, including Blavita, Gear Patrol, The Independent, Lee Enterprises, Los Angeles Times, MediaLab, DPReview, Mexico News Daily, Minkabu Infonoid, NewsPicks, Prisa Media, RTL Germany brands stern and ntv, Adweek and World History Encyclopedia .
“Part of my mandate is to really grow and develop this program. This is really just the first iteration. I’m looking forward to getting more partners early next year and then being able to work with our partners on different products as a benefit,” Jessica Chan, new head of publisher partnerships at Perplexity, told Digiday.
December 5: The Future and OpenAI
Future plc — which owns a number of websites including Tom’s Guide, PC Gamer, TechRadar and Marie Claire — signs a content license agreement with OpenAI. Future uses OpenAI tools for sales, marketing and editorial functions, according to the statement. She had a future have already launched AI chatbots using OpenAI technology on Tom’s Hardware and Who What Wear.
December 9: Lee Enterprises & OpenAI
Lee Enterprises enter into a content agreement with ProRata. ProRata’s technology will help personalize local content, create ads and automate certain processes on Lee’s local news site properties.