The New York Times has signed a multi-year licensing agreement with Amazon, granting the tech giant the right to use its editorial content for the development of artificial intelligence platforms.
This is reported by Business • Media
- The agreement covers not only news materials but also content from NYT Cooking and the sports project The Athletic.
- This is The Times’ first partnership specifically aimed at generative AI.
- In 2023, The New York Times filed a lawsuit against OpenAI for unauthorized use of its materials, but has now opted for a licensing approach.
Details of the Licensing Collaboration
With this agreement, Amazon will be able to integrate The Times’ materials into its products, including the Alexa voice assistant and other AI platforms. The content will be used to train Amazon’s artificial intelligence models, and in some cases, users will receive links to the publication’s website.
“This agreement aligns with our long-standing principle: quality journalism has a price. We are intentionally protecting the value of our work — both through commercial agreements and through the protection of intellectual property,” said CEO Meredith Kopit Levien in a message to employees.
The financial details of the contract are not disclosed. Amazon representatives declined to provide additional comments beyond the official statement.
Global Trend of Licensing Content for AI
Media outlets note that similar agreements have already been made by major media companies such as Axel Springer, Condé Nast, News Corp, and the Washington Post. This indicates the formation of a new model of collaboration between the media industry and AI developers, aimed at upholding copyright and supporting quality journalism.
Amazon, for its part, is actively investing in the field of artificial intelligence, including in the startup Anthropic, and is developing its own artificial general intelligence lab led by experts from Adept and Covariant. Collaboration with The Times could become an important resource for the development of these large-scale technological initiatives.
It is worth noting that recently OpenAI announced a merger with the startup io, founded by a former chief designer at Apple, which will also impact the dynamics of the AI and media market.