The New York Times Strikes AI Licensing Deal With Amazon
In a surprise deal, The New York Times said Thursday that it has struck an AI licensing agreement with the tech giant Amazon, a deal that will bring Times content to the tech giant’s AI-powered devices and services.
The agreement will also allow Times content to be used to train Amazon’s proprietary foundation AI models. The agreement covers news editorial, cooking, and The Athletic, and would bring that content to devices such as Alexa.
“The collaboration will make The New York Times’ original content more accessible to customers across Amazon products and services, including direct links to Times products, and underscores the companies’ shared commitment to serving customers with global news and perspectives within Amazon’s AI products,” the company said in announcing the deal.
The deal is a surprise because the Times has mostly pushed back against AI firms looking to leverage the news outlet’s content. The company is in a legal battle with OpenAI and Microsoft over the use of its content for AI training.
OpenAI, meanwhile, has been cutting deals left and right with news outlets, including The Washington Post (owned, of course, by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos), News Corp., Hearst, Time, Condé Nast, and others.
As with those deals, the Times deal includes new revenue for the company, but is also meant to expose its work for a wider audience, especially with many users increasingly using AI tools in favor of search options like Google. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
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