Google and News Corp Extend Partnership

Google and News Corp have finalized a deal on a partnership that will see Google paying News Corp between $5 and $6 million per year.

The exact terms of the partnership are not disclosed. However, a spokesperson from News Corp said, “We absolutely do not have an AI content licensing deal with Google, though we do have a number of partnerships with Google across our businesses.”

This new partnership extends the current existing partnership between the two companies and will likely see Google accessing archived data from News Corp to train its AI models, similar to other AI tech firm and news agency partnerships.

OpenAI, for example, signed deals last year with Axel Springer and the Associated Press. Under the deal with Axel Springer, OpenAI will be able to train its AI models with Axel Springer content in exchange for financial compensation and extended reach to readers through links provided in ChatGPT.

The New York Times has taken a different approach and sued Microsoft and OpenAI earlier this year. It claims that OpenAI used copyright-protected content to train its Large Language Models (LLMs) that are now widely used by OpenAI and Microsoft.

Google says it is committed to supporting journalism and the news industry as a whole. Google claims it has “shown that commitment over decades of financial support to journalism by providing billions of dollars.”

Google Search and Google News provide a means for news agencies to reach a wide audience, while Google technology supports news agencies who want to generate revenue through advertising on their websites.

The Google News Initiative works directly with news companies to bring tools, training and funding that will help companies adapt to the digital environment of today. The Google News Initiative has worked with over 7,000 news partners in more than 130 countries and territories and vows to “to fight misinformation, share resources and build a diverse and innovative news ecosystem.”