OpenAI, the maker of the viral AI chatbot ChatGPT, has secured another news licensing arrangement in Europe, adding London’s Financial Times to a growing list of publishers paying for content access.
The financial parameters of the agreement, like those of previous OpenAI publisher license deals, have not been made public.
The latest pact appears to be a little cozier than other recent OpenAI publisher tie-ups, such as with German Major Axel Springer or with the AP, Le Monde, and Prisa Media in France and Spain, respectively, as the pair refers to the arrangement as a “strategic partnership and licensing agreement.” (The CEO of Le Monde also described the “partnership” it launched with OpenAI in March as a “strategic move”).
However, we understand that it is a non-exclusive licensing agreement, and OpenAI has no ownership share in the FT Group.
On the content licensing front, the pair stated that the agreement covers OpenAI’s usage of the FT’s material for training AI models and, when appropriate, showing in generative AI answers produced by tools such as ChatGPT, which appears to be similar to its past publisher deals.
The strategic element appears to center on the FT improving its understanding of generative AI, particularly as a content discovery tool, and what’s being framed as a collaboration aimed at developing “new AI products and features for FT readers” — implying that the news publisher is eager to broaden its use of the AI technology in general.
“Through the partnership, ChatGPT users will be able to see select attributed summaries, quotes, and rich links to FT journalism in response to relevant queries,” the Financial Times said in a news release.
The publisher also mentioned that it began using OpenAI’s ChatGPT Enterprise product early this year. It goes on to say that it intends to investigate ways to expand its use of AI while cautioning about the dependability of automated outputs and potential hazards to reader trust.
This collaboration presents a fascinating glimpse into the future of media, where AI and human expertise might work hand-in-hand. It remains to be seen how this partnership unfolds and what innovative features it brings to both OpenAI’s products and the FT platform, but it undoubtedly marks a significant step towards AI integration within the traditional media landscape.
