The Associated Press reached a deal Thursday with ChatGPT’s parent company, OpenAI, to share access to technology developments and content, marking one of the first news-sharing partnerships between an artificial intelligence firm and a major U.S. news outlet.
While the logistical details of the partnership are still being worked out, the deal intends to explore generative AI in news products for the AP. In return, OpenAI will license part of the AP’s text archive in order to further train its artificial intelligence products.
OpenAI’s chief operating officer Brad Lightcap is hopeful that access to AP’s extensive archive “will help to improve the capabilities and usefulness of OpenAI’s systems.”
The AP has not yet implemented generative AI in its news stories, but this deal aims to change that by developing industry standards for AI use in journalism.
The news organization “firmly supports a framework that will ensure intellectual property is protected and content creators are fairly compensated for their work,” Kristin Heitmann, AP senior vice president and chief revenue officer told Axios.
“News organizations must have a seat at the table to ensure this happens, so that newsrooms large and small can leverage this technology to benefit journalism,” Heitmann continued.
Although the AP has yet to venture into generative AI exploration within news stories, the outlet was one of the first to implement automation within its content. The AP has used such technology to cover local sports and recently launched a search function that is powered by AI technology.