OpenAI is negotiating content licensing agreements with CNN, Fox, and Time.

Specifically, this artificial intelligence startup is first seeking to obtain licensing rights to content from CNN articles to train ChatGPT, as well as to incorporate CNN's own journalistic content into its products.

OpenAI negotiates press content licensing with CNN, Fox, and Time (Figure 1). — Photo: Bloomberg

Meanwhile, Time magazine CEO Jessica Sibley said in a statement that the publisher “is in discussions with OpenAI and we are optimistic about reaching an agreement that reflects the fair value of our content.”

“Our goal is to support a healthy news ecosystem, be a good partner, and create mutually beneficial opportunities,” OpenAI said in a blog post on Monday. The company said it has been “pursuing partnerships with news organizations” to train its AI systems on “content that is not publicly available.”

OpenAI said it is also in discussions with the News/Media Alliance, a trade group representing more than 2,200 media organizations worldwide , “to explore opportunities, discuss their concerns, and develop solutions.”

These negotiations are taking place as OpenAI and its financial investor Microsoft are facing numerous lawsuits alleging they used copyrighted works to train AI models.

The latest lawsuit was filed in Manhattan federal court by authors Nicholas Basbanes and Nicholas Gage, who allege that companies misused their work to train AI models. The New York Times, late last month, also sued companies alleging they used millions of its articles without authorization to train chatbots.

According to recent reports, OpenAI has also been in talks with Gannett, News Corp, Guardian News & Media, and IAC. “We have had previous dialogues with a number of developers, including OpenAI, which we hope can now move into commercial discussions about using our journalism to build and power their products,” Guardian News & Media, the owner of The Guardian newspaper, said in a statement.

OpenAI previously signed a long-term licensing agreement with Politico's parent company, Axel Springer SE, worth tens of millions of dollars. In July 2023, OpenAI announced an undisclosed agreement with the Associated Press.

However, not all major news outlets are willing to negotiate with OpenAI. The Washington Post has not negotiated with OpenAI in recent months and is considering legal action against OpenAI, similar to the New York Times.

The primary concern for news publishers is compensation. Recent reports indicate that OpenAI has paid each news publisher between $1 million and $5 million annually to use their content. However, this fee is considered too low for some leading newspapers.

Hoang Hai (according to Bloomberg, NYT, Reuters)

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