The Financial Times (full disclosure the owners of The Next Web) have inked a deal with OpenAI.
The American firm will use the British publishers content to train its generative AI models.
The company did not disclose the financial terms of any of the contracts.
OpenAI has come under fire for training its GPT models oncontent scraped from the webwithout consent.
Last year, The New York Times evensued OpenAIand Microsoft for copyright infringement.
OpenAIs recent tie-ups with publishers will allow it to continue to train its algorithms on web content.
But, this time, it will have permission.
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Strategic partnership
The FT called the deal with OpenAI a strategic partnership.
This content is usually hidden behind a paywall.
OpenAI will attribute all information from the FT to the publication.
In exchange, OpenAI will help the news organisation develop new AI tools.
The FT already uses OpenAI products, including ChatGPT Enterprise, we can confirm.
FT Group CEO John Ridding said the publisher was still committed to human journalism.
This is an important agreement in a number of respects, said Ridding.
Apart from the benefits to the FT, there are broader implications for the industry.
OpenAI understands the importance of transparency, attribution, and compensation all essential for us.
At the same time, its clearly in the interests of users that these products contain reliable sources.
Fair use or unfair?
Earlier this month, the New York Timesreportedthat OpenAI was using Youtube scripts to train its models.
OpenAI, however, insists its use of online material constitutes fair use.
Agreements with publishers could mark a potential step forward for AI copyright contentions.
However, they are likely to remain more the exception than the rule.
Story bySion Geschwindt
Sion is a freelance science and technology reporter, specialising in climate and energy.
