In a landmark deal introduced at this time, generative AI pioneer OpenAI is partnering with the Related Press (AP), one of many world’s oldest and most well-read newswire companies, established in 1846. 

The partnership is the primary of its variety between a serious AI vendor and media outlet, and is in some methods the assembly of two giants of their respective industries. It’s going to see OpenAI licensing textual content content material from the AP archives that might be used for coaching giant language fashions (LLMs). In change, the AP will make  use of OpenAI’s experience and expertise — although the media firm clearly emphasised in a launch that it’s not utilizing generative AI to assist write precise information tales.

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The deal is essential for each distributors as a bridge that may assist to convey the media icon into the generative AI period on one facet, and on the opposite as a way to tell OpenAI’s giant language fashions (LLMs) with the depth of human-authored information intelligence and experience from the AP. The information additionally comes mere hours after the U.S. Federal Commerce Fee, the company accountable for overseeing trade for shopper harms, was reported to be investigating OpenAI over a knowledge breach that uncovered buyer fee info and chat histories, in addition to inaccuracies.

Whereas the partnership affords super alternative for each corporations, there isn’t a particular greenback determine hooked up to it, as monetary phrases of the deal are usually not being publicly disclosed. Whereas OpenAI’s ChatGPT LLM has achieved almost 200 million month-to-month customers in current months, the AP counts a readership of 4 billion folks day by day by its many offers syndicating its content material to hundreds of native and nationwide information shops within the U.S.

OpenAI commits to ‘supporting important work of journalism’

The partnership between OpenAI and the AP comes at a very vital time within the growth of the nascent generative AI trade, amid ongoing stress going through the information enterprise from rising expertise.

OpenAI, in addition to different generative AI distributors, have been criticized in current weeks and months for scraping publicly accessible knowledge and utilizing it to coach their fashions with out the specific knowledgeable consent of the information creators. At present OpenAI is going through a number of authorized challenges over knowledge scraping, the place plaintiffs allege that the AI vendor used content material with out authorization or the authorized proper to take action. Simply final week, comic Sarah Silverman joined the refrain of complaints with a lawsuit of her personal, alleging copyright infringement.

Defending copyright and valuing the information trade are vital facets of the partnership between OpenAI and the AP.

“We’re happy that OpenAI acknowledges that fact-based, nonpartisan information content material is important to this evolving expertise, and that they respect the worth of our mental property,” Kristin Heitmann, AP senior vp and chief income officer, stated in a press release. “AP firmly helps a framework that may guarantee mental property is protected and content material creators are pretty compensated for his or her work.”

Heitmann added that from her perspective it’s vital that every one information organizations are a part of the dialog in terms of generative AI, to assist be sure that the journalism trade can profit from the expertise.

For its half, OpenAI is exhibiting its skill to collaborate and help industries that it’s being accused of disrupting, claiming that the partnership is indicative of its help for journalists.

“OpenAI is dedicated to supporting the important work of journalism, and we’re desperate to study from the Related Press as they delve into how our AI fashions can have a constructive influence on the information trade,” Brad Lightcap, chief working officer at OpenAI, wrote in a press release.

AI isn’t new for the AP

Whereas the AP is just not at present utilizing generative AI to put in writing tales, it’s no stranger to the world of synthetic intelligence.

The AP claims that for the previous decade it has used AI in several capacities to automate tedious duties, serving to its journalists to be extra productive. For instance, the AP has been utilizing non-generative types of AI since 2014 to assist automate the method of composing company earnings reviews.

AP has additionally used AI for voice and video transcription.

Search is one more space the place AP is utilizing AI. On June 1, AP launched an AI-powered search operate, utilizing expertise from software program vendor MerlinOne, to assist customers extra simply discover pictures and movies.

Neither OpenAI nor the AP specified if the brand new partnership would intersect with or stay impartial of those different efforts, however clearly, the AP sees worth in AI — and now we all know that for the main shopper AI service supplier, the sensation is mutual.