According to several media reports, OpenAI has agreed to pay Axel Springer SE tens of millions of euros for the right to use the media giant’s news articles and content to build its artificial intelligence systems.
For an uninitiated, Axel Springer is a German multinational mass media company, that specializes in both electronic publishing and print media. Axel Springer's publications include Business Insider, Insider and Washington news site Politico among many others. It is also a significant investor in the American digital media company Group Nine Media. The company majority owned by American investment firm KKR.
With this partnership, ChatGPT users around the world will receive summaries of selected global news content from Axel Springer’s media brands including POLITICO, BUSINESS INSIDER, and European properties BILD and WELT, including otherwise paid content. ChatGPT’s answers to user queries will include attribution and links to the full articles for transparency and further information.
In addition, the partnership supports Axel Springer’s existing AI-driven ventures that build upon OpenAI’s technology. The collaboration also involves the use of quality content from Axel Springer media brands for advancing the training of OpenAI’s sophisticated large language models.
The media offerings of Axel Springer are clustered in — current news, autos, sports, computers and consumer electronics, as well as lifestyle.
Notably, a report by media outlet Foreign Policy, "Axel Springer SE 'has a decades-long record of bending journalistic ethics for right-wing causes'."
Mathias Döpfner, CEO of Axel Springer, said, “We are excited to have shaped this global partnership between Axel Springer and OpenAI – the first of its kind. We want to explore the opportunities of AI empowered journalism – to bring quality, societal relevance and the business model of journalism to the next level.”
Brad Lightcap, COO of OpenAI, said “This partnership with Axel Springer will help provide people with new ways to access quality, real-time news content through our AI tools. We are deeply committed to working with publishers and creators around the world and ensuring they benefit from advanced AI technology and new revenue models.”
Axel Springer was also the majority stake holder in CarWale, a leading automotive portal in India, until the later was acquired by CarTrade.com in 2015.
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