News Corp, OpenAI reach landmark content licensing deal

The Post’s owner News Corp agreed to a landmark content licensing deal with artificial intelligence giant OpenAI, the firms announced Wednesday.

The agreement allows the ChatGPT creator to use current and archived content produced by News Corp-owned publications — which also include the Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, The Sun and The Times of London — to answer user questions and train its AI tools.

The five-year deal could be worth more than $250 million, with compensation coming in the form of cash as well as credits for the use of OpenAI technology.

“We believe an historic agreement will set new standards for veracity, for virtue and for value in the digital age,” News Corp CEO Robert Thomson said. “We are delighted to have found principled partners in Sam Altman and his trusty, talented team who understand the commercial and social significance of journalists and journalism.”

“This landmark accord is not an end, but the beginning of a beautiful friendship in which we are jointly committed to creating and delivering insight and integrity instantaneously,” Thomson added.

The deal was announced in the midst of a heated race between Microsoft-backed OpenAI and rivals, such as Google, to develop advanced AI chatbots.

OpenAI has now struck content deals with several prominent news publishers and platforms, including Politico parent Axel Springer, the Associated Press, Dotdash Meredith and Reddit.

Altman described the partnership as “a proud moment for journalism and technology.”

“We greatly value News Corp’s history as a leader in reporting breaking news around the world, and are excited to enhance our users’ access to its high-quality reporting,” the OpenAI boss said.

“Together, we are setting the foundation for a future where AI deeply respects, enhances, and upholds the standards of world-class journalism.”

The licensing agreement followed months of negotiations between the two firms. News Corp will also “share journalistic expertise” to ensure high-quality content in OpenAI’s products.

News publishers have raised concerns that AI firms will use their content to build chatbots and then use those same products to siphon critical site traffic and ad revenue from media outlets.

Thomson – a vocal critic of AI firms that have effectively stolen content to create chatbots that churned out “rubbish” – said in February that News Corp believes “courtship is preferable to courtrooms” to address the situation.

Other outlets have opted to pursue legal action. That includes the New York Times, which filed a sweeping federal copyright infringement lawsuit against OpenAI last December.

The deal surfaced just days after Google raised eyebrows with a controversial move to add AI-generated answers to its search engine.

The tech giant has also revealed plans to add ads to the regurgitated summaries, which are called “AI Overviews.”