Apple explores AI deals with news publishers
APPLE has opened negotiations in recent weeks with major news and publishing organisations, seeking permission to use their material in the company’s development of generative artificial intelligence (AI) systems, according to people familiar with the discussions.
The technology giant has floated multi-year deals worth at least US$50 million to license the archives of news articles, said the people with knowledge of talks, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive negotiations. The news organisations contacted by Apple include Conde Nast, publisher of Vogue and The New Yorker; NBC News; and IAC, which owns People, The Daily Beast and Better Homes and Gardens.
The negotiations mark one of the earliest examples of how Apple is trying to catch up to rivals in the race to develop generative AI, which allows computers to create images and chat like a human. The technology, which AI experts refer to as neural networks, is built using troves of photos or digital text to recognise patterns. The tools could change the way people work and generate billions of dollars in sales.
Microsoft, OpenAI, Google, Meta and other companies have released chatbots and other products built with the technology. But Apple has been absent from the public discussion of AI. Its virtual assistant, Siri, has remained largely stagnant in the decade since its release.
A spokesperson for Apple declined to comment. During a call with analysts last month, Apple chief executive Tim Cook said Apple had work “going on” connected to AI but declined to elaborate.
Some of the publishers contacted by Apple were lukewarm on the overture. Several executives were concerned that Apple’s terms were too expansive, according to people familiar with the negotiations. The initial pitch covered broad licensing of publishers’ archives of published content, with publishers potentially on the hook for any legal liabilities that could stem from Apple’s use of their content.
Apple was also vague about how it intended to apply generative AI to the news industry, the people said, a potential competitive risk given Apple’s substantial audience for news on its devices. NYTIMES
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