FT Journalism to Power OpenAI's ChatGPT Under New Agreement

OpenAI has entered into a partnership and licensing agreement with the Financial Times (FT), allowing the tech company to use FT's journalism to enhance its AI training systems. As part of the deal, OpenAI will provide users of its ChatGPT service with summaries, quotes from FT's content, and links to full articles.

The collaboration includes a payment to FT, though the specifics were not disclosed. This partnership adds to OpenAI’s portfolio of agreements with other prominent publishers such as the Associated Press, Le Monde, Prisa Media, and Axel Springer.

FT's CEO, John Ridding, endorsed the deal, emphasizing the importance of AI companies compensating news publishers. He highlighted that the inclusion of credible sources in AI products benefits users.

“OpenAI understands the importance of transparency, attribution, and compensation – all essential for us,” said Ridding. “At the same time, it’s clearly in the interests of users that these products contain reliable sources.”

Brad Lightcap, COO of OpenAI, acknowledged the importance of integrating quality journalism into their services as AI technologies continue to develop.

This agreement comes amidst the backdrop of legal challenges for OpenAI, including a lawsuit from The New York Times over the use of its content to train AI models. Other lawsuits from notable authors and companies like Getty Images against AI technology use of copyrighted material underscore the ongoing copyright disputes in the industry.

“Apart from the benefits to the FT, there are broader implications for the industry. It’s right, of course, that AI platforms pay publishers for the use of their material. OpenAI understands the importance of transparency, attribution, and compensation – all essential for us. At the same time, it’s clearly in the interests of users that these products contain reliable sources,” Ridding added.