Meta is negotiating with media organizations regarding AI content licensing
Meta is in negotiations with several media organizations to obtain authorization for their articles to support the development of artificial intelligence (AI) products. The media involved include Axel Springer, Fox Corporation, and News Corporation. Although some negotiations are still in the preliminary stages, it remains uncertain whether an agreement can ultimately be reached. Meta's history of collaboration with media publishers is complex, having paid for content multiple times but ceasing such payments in 2022. With the advancement of AI technology, the publishing industry has been impacted, and publishers are beginning to restrict unpaid AI crawlers from accessing their websites
According to the Wall Street Journal, in recent months, Meta (META.US) has been in discussions with several media companies to obtain authorization for their articles for the development of its artificial intelligence (AI) products. The media involved include Axel Springer, Fox Corporation (FOX.US), and News Corporation (NWS.US).
The report cites sources familiar with the matter, stating that as the parent company of Instagram and WhatsApp, Meta owns several AI-driven products, including chatbots. The core of the negotiations with media companies is to secure usage rights for news and other content for these AI products.
Currently, Meta, Fox, and News Corporation have not responded immediately to requests for comments. Axel Springer stated that it would not comment on market rumors.
The report notes that some negotiations are still in the preliminary stages and may not ultimately lead to new agreements. It is worth mentioning that Fox Corporation and News Corporation, the parent company of the Wall Street Journal, are "sister companies" with a common controlling shareholder.
Meta's relationship with media publishers has always been "mixed." The report mentions that the American tech giant spent tens of millions of dollars years ago to establish several partnerships, incorporating content from the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, and other media into its "News" section; however, by 2022, Meta announced it would stop paying publishers for content.
Due to Meta lowering the priority of news content on its platform, many publishers have seen a significant drop in traffic from its social platform Facebook. However, the report also notes that in recent months, some publishers have reported a rebound in traffic from Facebook.
The rapid development of AI technology is currently impacting the publishing industry: tech companies are using "web crawlers" to scrape website content and are accused of using this content to train their large language models (LLMs). In response, publishers are taking measures to restrict unpaid AI crawlers from accessing their websites. In July of this year, cybersecurity company Cloudflare updated its default settings to block AI crawlers that have not paid for content.
The report also mentions that although Meta reached an AI content licensing agreement with Reuters last October, it has only begun broader negotiations with various publishers in recent months.
Meanwhile, several of Meta's competitors have finalized multiple AI content licensing collaborations in the news industry: for example, OpenAI, supported by Microsoft (MSFT.US), has signed licensing agreements with News Corporation, Axel Springer, and Dotdash Meredith (now renamed People Inc.); Amazon (AMZN.US) has also reached a similar collaboration with the New York Times
