OpenAI in Talks with Publishers to License Contents for Over $1 Million Per Year

OpenAI is currently in discussion with dozens of publishers, primarily news media, in an attempt to ink multimillion-dollar deals to use their contents for its AI training.

The AI firm is "in the middle of many negotiations and discussions" with publishers following its successful deals with Axel Springer, the parent company of Politico and Business Insider.

The Information has earlier reported that OpenAI is offering publishers between $1 million and $5 million per year to use their licensed copyrighted works for its AI products like ChatGPT.

However, unlike before, the licensed content will solely be used to train AI models rather than to "reproduce" or "replace" the original content, OpenAI intellectual property chief Tom Rubin told Bloomberg.

OpenAI's active efforts to get the publishers' official approval comes after the New York Times and publishing houses filed a lawsuit against the AI firm and Microsoft for copyright infringement.

OpenAI Accused of Plagiarizing Copyrighted Contents

Since 2023, several copyright lawsuits have already been filed against OpenAI for allegedly training its chatbot ChatGPT from licensed content from publishers, news organizations, and authors.

Prominent cases against the company include big names such as George R. R. Martin, author of the "Song of Ice and Fire" series, and "The Corrections" novelist Jonathan Franzen.

All lawsuits claim that OpenAI is using its entire works to train its AI models.

The Times argued that ChatGPT is copying its journalists' works almost word-for-word without the publication's permission or payment.

OpenAI's hearing on the copyright case continues as the publication pushes for the company to remove all its training data that includes content from the Times as well as receive a billion-dollar fine as settlement.

News Publishers Enter into the AI Industry

Over the last few months, more and more publishers have allowed AI firms to use their licensed content to train their large language models for high market value.

The Axel Springer deal itself has been reported to be worth tens of millions of dollars.

On the other hand, many publishers such as the New York Times, ABC, Bloomberg, CNN, and Reuters have blocked OpenAI's web crawler from accessing its data.

The New York Times even launched a dedicated AI department to regulate the integration of the artificial system within its workplace.