News Corp., the media giant that owns the Post and the Wall Street Journal, is in “advanced” discussions with major artificial intelligence companies to license news content, a top company official has said. Ta.
CEO Robert Thomson has been vocal in criticizing AI companies that effectively steal content from news organizations to train chatbots that produce “crap”, even as prominent media companies have been accused of copyright infringement. “Important negotiations are at an advanced stage” as the company seeks fair compensation for protected works, it said.
Mr Thomson said News Corp believed courtship was “preferable to court” to resolve the hotly debated issue.
This stands in contrast to actions taken by companies such as the New York Times, which filed a wide-ranging federal copyright infringement lawsuit against OpenAI in December.
“We’re not suing, we’re suing,” Thomson said on Wednesday’s earnings call. “But let me be clear: in my opinion, those who repurpose our content without authorization are stealing and hurting creativity. Counterfeiting is not creating. The world of AI is full of content forgers.”
When asked about the status of negotiations later in the earnings call, Thomson declined to comment on specifics, but reiterated that negotiations were “at an advanced stage and we are in talks with willing partners.” .
Companies like Microsoft-backed OpenAI and Google are under intense scrutiny for using copyrighted material to train the models that power their AI products.
While the Times lawsuit and others progress, OpenAI is reportedly in talks with several prominent media companies, including CNN and Fox.
The creators of ChatGPT have already announced deals with publishing giants Axel Springer and the Associated Press.
News Corp. is “probably the most aggressive advocate for compensation from tech companies,” said Joshua Benton, director of the Nieman Institute for Journalism at Harvard University, in a dispute between the company and Google over digital advertising revenue sharing. He mentioned his past dispute with.
“I think OpenAI is pursuing a risk-averse strategy,” Benton added. “Their most important claim is that training models using copyrighted material does not infringe copyright. But they also have a lot of money lying around.”
Thomson praised OpenAI boss Sam Altman’s handling of the situation, saying he had “demonstrated a clear understanding of the social importance of journalism”.
Experts told the Post last month that copyright infringement lawsuits could pose an existential threat to OpenAI and other AI startups.
Thomson added that News Corp looks forward to becoming “a core content provider for generative AI companies that require the highest quality, timely content to ensure their products are relevant.” Ta. A discussion of how AI will impact journalism and business implications.”
“Thoughtful people understand that counterfeiting is not creation and, crucially, in these highly volatile times, there are deep facts, not deepfakes,” Thomson said. .
News industry critics say the rise of AI has already begun to degrade the quality of online information.
Last month, the Post reported that Google News was displaying AI-generated plagiarism articles alongside real news articles in search results. That included articles brazenly stolen from exclusive Post articles.
Mr Thomson’s comments echo those of News Corp emeritus chairman Rupert Murdoch, who said last November that the company was “absolutely committed to both the opportunities and challenges” posed by advanced AI. We are focused on it.”