The New York Times announced Thursday that it has reached a multi-year agreement with Amazon to provide the news organization’s content across various Amazon artificial intelligence platforms. This deal extends to content from The Times’ other properties, including NYT Cooking and The Athletic.
Content Integration Across Amazon Services
According to the Times, the agreement will allow real-time display of summaries and brief excerpts from its content within Amazon products and services such as Alexa. Additionally, Amazon will use The Times’ editorial content to train its proprietary foundation AI models. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The Times previously sued Microsoft and OpenAI in 2023, accusing them of copyright infringement for using its content to train large language models without permission. Despite attempts by Microsoft and OpenAI to dismiss the case, other news organizations like the New York Daily News and the Center for Investigative Reporting have also filed lawsuits against these companies.
However, more news outlets are opting for licensing agreements with tech firms instead of pursuing costly litigation.
Amazon has recently launched several generative AI initiatives to compete with companies like OpenAI and Google. These include Alexa+, an AI-enhanced version of its voice assistant, as well as its own Nova AI models, Trainium AI chips, a shopping chatbot, and Bedrock, a marketplace for third-party AI models.
What The Author Thinks
News organizations face a tough choice between litigation and collaboration in the rapidly evolving AI landscape. Licensing content to tech giants like Amazon offers a practical path to monetize their work while influencing how it’s used in AI systems. Though legal battles highlight important copyright issues, partnerships may foster innovation and ensure journalists are compensated in an era where AI-driven content creation is reshaping media consumption.
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