AI Watch.dog

Content Licensing Deals

AI companies have been quietly paying publishers to license journalism, blogs, and art. The exact terms of most deals are unknown. Paying for content may conflict with the companies' claim that training generative AI is fair use.

Last updated Sep 30, 2024.
  1. Jul 13, 2023: Associated Press → OpenAI. The American media giant licenses news stories from 1985 to the present for AI training, according to an AP press release.
  2. Dec 13, 2023: Axel Springer → OpenAI. The German publisher of Politico, Business Insider, and a variety of other newspapers and magazines licenses news to OpenAI in a 3-year deal worth "tens of millions of euros," according to Bloomberg News.
  3. Feb 16, 2024: Reddit → Google. Reddit licenses users' posts and discussion to Google in a deal "worth about $60 million per year."
  4. Feb 27, 2024: Automattic → OpenAI and Midjourney. Automattic licenses text and images from Tumblr and WordPress.com. 404 Media reports on "a messy and controversial process" in which Tumblr may have shared "a huge number of user posts that it wasn’t supposed to.
  5. Mar 7, 2024: Wiley → (unknown). Wiley, a publisher of books and academic journals has "executed a $23 million content rights project with a large tech company." Wiley's CEO says he is "working to uncover similar content opportunities with other AI players."
  6. Mar 13, 2024: Le Monde, Prisa Media → OpenAI. European media giants license news stories to OpenAI. The deal "provides for references to Le Monde articles to be highlighted and systematically accompanied by a logo, a hyperlink, and the titles of the articles used as references," according to a Le Monde press release.
  7. Apr 29, 2024: Financial Times → OpenAI. The Financial Times (ft.com) agrees to a deal that will "enhance ChatGPT with attributed content, help improve its models’ usefulness by incorporating FT journalism, and collaborate on developing new AI products and features for FT readers," according to an FT press release.
  8. May 7, 2024: Dotdash Meredith → OpenAI. The publisher of People, Better Homes & Gardens, Food & Wine, Verywell, InStyle, and Investopedia licenses magazine and website content to OpenAI for an undisclosed amount. "OpenAI will display content and links attributed to DDM in relevant ChatGPT responses," according to DDM's press release.
  9. May 8, 2024: Taylor & Francis → Microsoft. A major publisher of books and academic journals is "providing Microsoft non-exclusive access to advanced learning content and data to help improve relevance and performance of AI systems." The deal is "worth almost £8m ($10m) in its first year," TheBookseller.com reports. "Authors claim they have not been told about the AI deal, were not given the opportunity to opt out and are receiving no extra payment."
  10. May 16, 2024: Reddit → OpenAI. Reddit licenses users' posts and discussion for AI training. TechCrunch reports that Reddit "has contractual agreements to license its data to customers including Google worth a combined over $200 million."
  11. May 25, 2024: NewsCorp → OpenAI. Media conglomerate NewsCorp (which owns The Wall Street Journal and Fox, among others) licenses journalism for AI training in a deal that "could be worth more than $250 million over five years," according to Reuters.
  12. May 29, 2024: Vox Media → OpenAI. Vox Media, which operates The Verge, Eater, The Cut, Vulture, and other websites, licenses its journalism and blogs to OpenAI for training.
  13. May 29, 2024: The Atlantic → OpenAI. The Atlantic licenses its 165+ years of journalism to OpenAI for training.
  14. Jun 27, 2024: Time → OpenAI. Time licenses current and archived articles from its 101-year history.
  15. Aug 6, 2024: Financial Times, Axel Springer, The Atlantic, Fortune, Universal Music Group → ProRata.ai. ProRata claims to have "invent[ed] generative AI attribution technology to compensate and credit content owners."
  16. Aug 20, 2024: Condé Nast → OpenAI. The publisher of The New Yorker, Vogue, Vanity Fair, Bon Appetit, and WIRED signs a multi-year licensing deal with OpenAI.
  17. Aug 30, 2024: Wiley → (unknown). Wiley announces a total of $44 million in licensing deals with unnamed AI companies, and confirms there will be "no specific opt-out for authors."