News Corp. and OpenAI strike ‘multi-year global partnership’ deal to use journalistic content to improve ChatGPT

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, attends the 54th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 18, 2024.

Denis Balibouse | Reuters

OpenAI and News Corp. on Wednesday announced a “multi-year global partnership” that will allow OpenAI to access current and archived articles from News Corp.’s outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, MarketWatch, Barron’s, The New York Post and more.

As part of the deal, OpenAI will be able to display content from News Corp.-owned outlets within its ChatGPT chatbot, in response to user questions. The startup will also be able to use News Corp.’s content “to enhance its products,” or, likely, to train its artificial intelligence models.

News Corp. will also “share journalistic expertise to help ensure the highest journalism standards are present across OpenAI’s offering” as part of the deal, according to a release.

“We believe a historic agreement will set new standards for veracity, for virtue and for value in the digital age,” Robert Thomson, CEO of News Corp., said Wednesday in a release. “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.”

The news follows Reddit’s announcement on Thursday that it will partner with OpenAI, allowing the ChatGPT maker to train its AI models on Reddit content. As part of that deal, OpenAI will gain access to Reddit’s Data application programming interface, or API, “which provides real-time, structured, and unique content from Reddit,” according to a release.

In exchange, Reddit will begin offering certain AI features to users and moderators, powered by OpenAI, which will also become a Reddit advertising partner. Google announced a similar partnership with Reddit in February, allowing the company to train its AI models, such as Gemini, on Reddit content via access to the platform’s API.

Last week, OpenAI launched a new AI model and desktop version of ChatGPT, along with an updated user interface, the company’s latest effort to expand use of its popular chatbot. The update brings GPT-4 to everyone, including OpenAI’s free users, Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati said last week in a livestreamed event.

Murati said the new model, GPT-4o, is “much faster,” with improved capabilities in text, video and audio. OpenAI said it eventually plans to allow users to video chat with ChatGPT.

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