ChatGPT to start showing news articles, thanks to OpenAI's new $250 million deal with News Corp

OpenAI, the Microsoft-backed company that built ChatGPT, has been hit with a lot of lawsuits from the mass media. But now, it seems like more media companies are giving in, as News Corp announced a “multi-year global partnership” with the AI company to bring its news articles to the popular chatbot. 

News Corp, which owns well-known brands such as The Wall Street Journal, New York Post, The Daily Telegraph, Herald Sun, The Courier Mail, and The Sunday Times, has made a deal valued at approximately $250 million. This agreement will enable the chatbot to present content from News Corp in response to user queries, akin to a recent arrangement with the Financial Times.

“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,” Robert Thompson, News Corp’s CEO, said in the announcement.

Axel Springer, a German media company, also signed a partnership with OpenAI a few months back. The owners of entities like Bild, Politico, and Business Insider said that the partnership will see ChatGPT providing users with summaries of selected global news content.

But it’s been a back-and-forth struggle for AI to have a place in real-world journalism. The New York Times, for example, said that OAI’s unlawful training has cost them “billions of dollars.” The media company then took OpenAI to court over allegations that ChatGPT could access their paywalled articles and has trained the AI model using NYT’s articles without their consent. 

OpenAI then defended itself, saying that publicly available content is allowed under the legal doctrine of fair use.