ChatGPT owner OpenAI signs licensing deal with major media company
Condé Nast has penned a multi-year agreement with OpenAI to license the magazine company’s content, the latest high-profile media deal for the artificial intelligence startup.
OpenAI, which makes ChatGPT and other AI tools, will display content from brands like Vogue, the New Yorker and Wired within its products, the company said Tuesday.
The deal also allows OpenAI to use Condé Nast’s content to help train its AI models, which require vast amounts of data to learn.
The announcement marks an expansion of OpenAI’s efforts to cut deals with media companies, rather than battle them over how the company uses news articles and other content in its AI tools.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
“It’s crucial that we meet audiences where they are and embrace new technologies while also ensuring proper attribution and compensation for use of our intellectual property,” wrote Condé Nast Chief Executive Officer Roger Lynch in a memo to employees.
“This is exactly what we have found with OpenAI.”
OpenAI has been “transparent and willing to productively work with publishers,” Lynch said, adding that the deal is “just the beginning” of the “fight for fair deals and partnerships across the industry.”
In the past year, OpenAI has made similar deals with Axel Springer, the Atlantic, and Vox Media, among others.
Not every outlet, however, is working with with the company.
In December, the New York Times sued the startup for allegedly using its copyrighted articles without permission to build its technology. OpenAI has disputed the claims, saying that the New York Times is not “telling the full story.”
As part of the deal with Condé Nast, OpenAI will also use the content in its upcoming SearchGPT product, a search-oriented version of its popular chatbot, which has yet to be widely released.
Brad Lightcap, the chief operating officer of OpenAI, said in a statement that the company is “committed to working with Condé Nast and other news publishers to ensure that as AI plays a larger role in news discovery and delivery” and that “it maintains accuracy, integrity, and respect for quality reporting.”