Over the past few months, news organizations have rallied behind OpenAI, crafting Faustian deals in which the cash-strapped media industry trades a pittance for OpenAI's right to scrape and integrate its content in things like ChatGPT. Among those who signed with their blood are News Corp. (editor of Wall Street Journal), THE Financial Times, People review publisher Dotdash Meredith, the PAand now, Atlantic and Vox Media.
Atlantic and Vox Media quickly confirmed these new deals shortly after Axios first published the news.
Atlantic said that it will be a “premium information source” in OpenAI and that all its citations will be clearly attributed to Atlantic with links to the original content. Publishers worry that users of AI chatbots don't actually need access to the original sources; Perhaps the calculation is that, for an industry in the twilight of its lifespan, a few inbound link traffic is better than nothing. Then again, by accepting to be scratched, perhaps Atlantic is actually launching itself directly into the trap of its own extinction (and that of the media as a whole). There will also be an experimental “microsite” called Atlantic Labs that will introduce “new products and features to better serve its journalism and readers.”
Vox Media (publisher of its flagship news site Vox, technical site The edge, the sports blog network under the SB Nation banner and many others) says it will have a similar attribution style and a link to its content.
Vox Media will also use OpenAI data both internally and in public-facing content. Specifically, it will “enhance” Vox's The Strategist Gift Scout tool which helps visitors find products to purchase (and helps Vox Media generate affiliate revenue). It will also be integrated with the publisher's internal advertising platform, so expect even more effective ads to follow you across the internet and discover what you want to buy.
There's no indication yet that either company will release anything created directly by AI, as seen on sites like CNET And Sports Illustrated have tried with disastrous results, although neither company has said it needs to exclude AI from its content either. HAS Atlanticit seems likely that such experiments will be reserved for the new Atlantic Labs section, at least to begin with.
Although a number of publishers have been quick to adopt AI, not everyone is as enthusiastic. THE New York Times sued OpenAI and Microsoft for copyright infringement in December, claiming the two companies were using its hardware without permission to train their models. More recently, eight publications belonging to the Alden Capital group, including Chicago Tribune And New York Daily News, sued the two companies with a similar complaint. At this point, it seems like it's either a matter of spending time and money on a lawsuit to address OpenAI's widespread intellectual theft, or striking a deal that will have you spending money in a disastrous media market.
It was only last week Atlantic released its own rant denouncing media organizations for taking the small money of AI intruders in exchange for something of significantly greater value. The odds unfortunately suggest that this story (and my moral stance) will age just as poorly in the near future.
Updated, May 29, 2024, 12:20 p.m. ET: This story has been updated to include details of Vox Media's official statement on the deal.