In a surprising turn of events, Google and News Corp. have struck a multi-million dollar deal focusing on AI content. Under this agreement, Google is set to pay News Corp. between $5 million and $6 million annually to develop new AI-powered content and products. This partnership comes at a time when the relationship between AI and mainstream media companies has been somewhat frosty.
News Corp., the parent company of renowned mainstream media outlets like the Wall Street Journal and the New York Post, stands to benefit from this deal. Notably, Google had previously made substantial payments to News Corp. in 2021 to feature its stories on the Google News Showcase platform for three years.
With Google’s increasing interest in AI services, especially following the introduction of ChatGPT, the tech giant is exploring new AI-powered features. Reports from the Financial Times suggest that Google is considering launching premium features backed by generative AI, which would be a first for the company. These features could include AI-powered search functionalities and the Gemini Assistant, although the exact launch date remains uncertain.
It is worth noting that Google, along with other AI companies, has faced legal challenges concerning the unauthorized scraping of online content to train their AI models. Recently, eight US daily newspapers filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft for copyright infringement. The publishers accused the companies of using millions of copyrighted articles without permission to train ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot.
These developments underscore the growing significance of AI in content creation and the challenges that arise concerning copyright and intellectual property rights in the digital age. As Google and News Corp. embark on this new venture, it will be interesting to see how AI content continues to evolve in the media landscape.
