OpenAI has announced partnerships with Vox Media and The Atlantic to license their content for the popular ChatGPT artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot.
OpenAI Inks Licensing Deals with Vox Media and The Atlantic
Amid on-going copyright lawsuits, OpenAI has recently secured agreements with Vox Media and The Atlantic to use their content in training its AI models.
OpenAI has not revealed the financial details of these deals. However, they are part of a broader strategy by OpenAI to collaborate with media companies and avoid potential copyright issues.
One of the deals involves Vox Media, a digital media company that owns properties like Vox, The Verge, Eater, New York Magazine, The Cut, Vulture, and SB Nation.
According to Vox Media, this partnership will not only bring brand attribution and audience referrals but also involve the development of audience-facing and internal applications.
Jim Bankoff, co-founder, chair, and CEO of Vox Media, expressed enthusiasm about the partnership, stating, "This agreement aligns with our goals of leveraging generative AI to innovate for our audiences and customers, protect and grow the value of our work and intellectual property, and boost productivity and discoverability to elevate the talent and creativity of our exceptional journalists and creators."
The company plans to use OpenAI's technology to enhance its affiliate commerce product, The Strategist Gift Scout, and strengthen its Forte first-party data platform.
This photo illustration shows the ChatGPT logo at an office in Washington, DC, on March 15, 2023. STEFANI REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images
Meanwhile, The Atlantic will see its articles become discoverable within OpenAI's products, including ChatGPT. The Atlantic looks to influence how news is surfaced and presented in future AI-powered discovery products, the company said.
Additionally, The Atlantic's product team will get special access to OpenAI's technology. This will allow them to provide feedback and help shape future news experiences powered by AI.
The Atlantic is also creating an experimental site called Atlantic Labs. This site will explore how AI could enhance journalism and increase reader engagement.
Nicholas Thompson, CEO of The Atlantic, stressed the future of AI in web navigation, saying, "We believe that people searching with AI models will be one of the fundamental ways that people navigate the web in the future."
OpenAI's recent deals with Vox Media and The Atlantic follow similar agreements with other prominent media companies such as News Corp, Dotdash Meredith, the Financial Times, and Reddit.
These deals allow OpenAI to get high-quality data to train its AI systems. At the same time, the deals help lower the chances of OpenAI facing lawsuits over copyright issues.
However, the media industry remains divided on this issue. Major newspapers, like The New York Times, have filed lawsuits against OpenAI, alleging copyright infringement.
According to the New York Times, Microsoft and OpenAI used their content without consent to train AI models such as ChatGPT and Copilot.
Jessica Lessin, founder of the tech news site The Information, criticized such partnerships in an article for The Atlantic, arguing that media companies rushing to make deals with AI firms are acting against their own interests.
