Axel Springer Partners with OpenAI
German multinational media company and publisher, Axel Springer, announced partnership with OpenAI, allowing AI training on its content and exploring AI-powered journalism.
As media organizations navigate through the influence of advancing artificial intelligence (AI) while safeguarding copyright and jobs, German media giant Axel Springer, specializing in digital and print media, announced a partnership with OpenAI, allowing AI training with its content and leveraging the capabilities of ChatGPT to enhance its journalistic endeavors.
ChatGPT will pull content from Springer’s influential brands such as Politico, Business Insider, Bild, and Welt, to provide answers to user queries. This innovative approach promises to offer users enriched responses, complete with attributions and links to the original articles, thereby extending the reach and impact of Axel Springer's journalism. Furthermore, content from Axel Springer's array of brands will contribute to the ongoing development of OpenAI's sophisticated language models.
Mathias Döpfner, CEO of Axel Springer, expressed enthusiasm about this collaboration, envisioning it as a step towards AI-powered journalism and aiming to take journalistic quality, societal relevance, and the business model of journalism to new heights.
Axel Springer's venture follows in the footsteps of other major news organizations that have recently engaged with OpenAI. Notably, the Associated Press entered into a similar agreement in July, allowing OpenAI to train its AI models using the AP's extensive archive of news stories. Such partnerships are proving financially beneficial for these media houses, providing a new revenue stream while presenting challenges and opportunities in their editorial processes.
The topic of AI in journalism has sparked diverse reactions within the industry. Earlier this year, IAC mogul Barry Diller suggested that news businesses should consider legal action against AI firms to defend their intellectual property rights. On the contrary, News Corp. CEO Robert Thomson expressed interest in collaborations with AI and tech companies to derive value from their unique content and IP, viewing it as a means to augment revenue and reduce operational costs. The New York Times, too, has shown a proactive approach, hiring Zach Seward, co-founder of Quartz, as an editorial director to oversee AI initiatives.
However, the rapid advancement of AI technology raises concerns about its long-term impact on writers and content creators across industries. The Writers Guild of America (WGA) has voiced apprehensions, leading to contractual safeguards against AI-generated content and the unauthorized use of writers' work for AI training. Nevertheless, the collaboration between tech giants and global news outlets and media companies outside of Hollywood will contribute to the already fast-growing development of AI technologies, which in turn will continue to affect the workflow of content creators in entertainment.