OpenAI, the renowned AI research center founded by Elon Musk and Sam Altman, has recently teamed up with The Associated Press (AP), a well-established and respected news agency, for a groundbreaking partnership. This collaboration marks a significant milestone for the emerging field of generative AI.
The partnership, announced on July 18, 2023, is the first of its kind between a major AI technology provider and a news organization. While OpenAI has faced criticism for using publicly available data without explicit consent, this collaboration with the AP ensures that the news industry can benefit from this innovative technology. The AP has already been using non-generative AI since 2014 for tasks such as automating business earnings reports and transcribing audio and video.
As part of this collaboration, OpenAI will have access to the AP’s vast textual archives, which will be used to train its large language models (LLMs). In return, OpenAI will provide the AP with its knowledge and tools. This mutually beneficial partnership aims to bring the AP into the era of generative AI, leveraging human-created news intelligence and expertise.
The potential benefits for both organizations are immense. OpenAI’s ChatGPT LLM already has approximately 200 million monthly users, while the AP boasts a readership of four billion people daily through syndicating its content to numerous local and national news sites in the U.S. The financial terms of the partnership remain confidential.
OpenAI’s Chief Operating Officer, Brad Lightcap, expressed the company’s commitment to supporting the journalism industry, stating, OpenAI is committed to supporting the vital work of journalism, and we’re eager to learn from the Associated Press as they delve into how our AI models can have a positive impact on the news industry.
This collaboration comes at a critical time for the news industry, which continues to face challenges from new technologies. While there are concerns about AI potentially replacing human journalists, the AP has clarified that they will not use generative AI to produce news stories. Instead, AI will be used to automate mundane tasks such as generating corporate earnings reports and transcribing voice and video content.
The partnership between OpenAI and the AP signifies their shared commitment to copyright protection and the importance of the journalism industry. OpenAI’s collaboration and support for the industry, which it had previously been accused of disrupting, is evident through this collaboration.
This groundbreaking partnership between OpenAI and the AP highlights the future of news and the rapid growth of the generative AI industry. While there are ongoing discussions about the use of AI in journalism, the AP’s focus on automation centers around streamlining repetitive tasks rather than replacing human journalists.
As the use of large language models to generate news content becomes increasingly common, this collaboration is a crucial step in the evolution of generative AI technology. Both OpenAI and the AP stand to benefit from this partnership, which provides opportunities to inform OpenAI’s models with human-authored news intelligence and expertise from the AP.
Overall, this partnership signifies a significant development in the news industry, demonstrating the potential for innovation when established organizations collaborate with cutting-edge AI research centers.
