Nearly two years after filing a lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft for copyright infringement, The New York Times has now entered into a licensing agreement with Amazon to provide its editorial content for training the tech giant’s artificial intelligence platforms.
In a statement, The New York Times announced that the deal will “bring Times editorial content to a variety of Amazon customer experiences.” This includes news articles, material from NYT Cooking—a site focused on food and recipes—as well as content from The Athletic, its sports-oriented publication.
The company also mentioned that Amazon's use of Times content could extend to Alexa, the voice assistant software in its smart speaker devices.
“Whenever it makes sense within the consumer experience on Amazon’s products, they will provide direct links to Times products, where readers can get the full Times experience,” said Danielle Rhoades Ha, a spokesperson for The New York Times, in a statement to TechCrunch.
Although the terms of the agreement were not disclosed, this marks Amazon’s first such deal. OpenAI has previously signed similar licensing agreements with several publishers, including The Washington Post, The Atlantic, The Guardian, NewsCorp, Axel Springer, and others.
This is also The New York Times’ first licensing agreement specifically focused on generative AI. It follows the outlet’s accusations that OpenAI and Microsoft used millions of its articles to train AI models without authorization or compensation.
“We have a long-standing approach to ensure that our work is appropriately valued, whether through commercial agreements or by defending our intellectual property rights,” said the spokesperson.
Both OpenAI and Microsoft have denied the allegations.
The deal is seen as a significant step in shaping the future of copyright and commercial relationships in the media industry in the era of artificial intelligence.
