OpenAI partners with global news publisher Axel Springer to offer news in ChatGPT

OpenAI and Axel Springer, the global news publisher, have struck a deal that allows ChatGPT to summarise news content from outlets under the Axel Springer media brand. 

What does this mean for users? ChatGPT’s users could simply inquire about a specific topic, and the AI-powered chatbot would respond with concise summaries from articles sourced from media giants portfolios like Politico, Business Insider, Bild, and Welt. This feature even extends to articles typically accessible only to subscribers. The provided responses will be accompanied by proper attribution and direct links to the full articles, ensuring transparency in information sourcing.

Furthermore, as part of the agreement, Axel Springer will provide content from its media brands to be utilised as training data for OpenAI’s large language models. In return, Axel Springer will receive financial compensation for providing access to its content for training purposes.

Tom Rubin, head of intellectual property and content at OpenAI, stated that the Axel Springer content will be available to ChatGPT users in the first quarter of 2024. The deal is expected to give Axel Springer content a favourable position in ChatGPT search results, aiming to drive traffic and subscription revenue to the publisher’s brands.

The deal’s financial terms, which are non-exclusive and span multiple years, were not disclosed. Axel Springer CEO Mathias Doepfner expressed the company’s intentions to ‘explore the opportunities of AI-empowered journalism — to bring quality, societal relevance and the business model of journalism to the next level.’ 

Why does it matter?

The news comes as publishers, artists, and writers increasingly weigh or pursue legal action against the companies behind popular generative AI tools for allegedly using their content or creations as training data. However, the Axel Springer deal follows OpenAI’s previous agreement with the Associated Press, underscoring the growing intersection between AI technology and news publishers. The deal represents a noteworthy milestone in the evolving relationship between journalism companies and AI firms, and transcends the conventional practice of merely supplying data for training ChatGPT’s models. Instead, it introduces a novel dimension by leveraging vetted journalism to enhance the precision and reliability of ChatGPT’s responses.