Meta’s
AI
chatbot
will
soon
begin
citing
Reuters
reporting
while
answering
news-related
queries.
The
two
companies
have
struck
what
Axios
describes
as
a
“multi-year
deal”
that
will
allow
Meta
to
use
Reuters
content
for
its
chatbot
responses.
The
deal
is
the
first
of
its
kind
for
Meta,
in
an
era
of
news
outlets
agreeing
to
provide
their
content
to
AI
companies.
“We’re
always
iterating
and
working
to
improve
our
products,
and
through
Meta’s
partnership
with
Reuters,
Meta
AI
can
respond
to
news-related
questions
with
summaries
and
links
to
Reuters
content,”
Meta
spokesperson
Jamie
Radice
said
in
an
email.
“While
most
people
use
Meta
AI
for
creative
tasks,
deep
dives
on
new
topics
or
how-to
assistance,
this
partnership
will
help
ensure
a
more
useful
experience
for
those
seeking
information
on
current
events.”
Reuters
did
not
immediately
respond
to
a
request
for
comment.
Axios
reports
that
Reuters
will
be
compensated
for
its
content
appearing
in
Meta’s
AI
chatbot,
which
is
accessible
through
Facebook,
Instagram,
WhatsApp,
and
Messenger,
and
links
to
Reuters
stories
will
begin
appearing
for
US
users
on
Friday.
Many
of
Meta’s
splashiest
AI
features
have
so
far
been
character
focused
—
celebrity
chatbots
the
company
recently
scrapped,
for
example
—
instead
of
centered
around
current
events.
Radice
didn’t
respond
to
questions
about
safety
measures
in
place
for
AI
responses
that
deal
with
news
and
current
events.
Over
the
last
year
or
so,
news
organizations,
including
The
Atlantic,
The
Wall
Street
Journal,
and
the
Dotdash
Meredith
group
have
signed
licensing
deals
with
OpenAI.
(Disclosure:
Vox
Media,
The
Verge’s
parent
company,
has
a
technology
and
content
deal
with
OpenAI.)
“AI
is
coming,
it
is
coming
quickly.
We
want
to
be
part
of
whatever
transition
happens,”
The
Atlantic
CEO
Nicholas
Thompson
told
The
Verge.
“Transition
might
be
bad,
the
transition
might
be
good,
but
we
believe
the
odds
of
it
being
good
for
journalism
and
the
kind
of
work
we
do
with
The
Atlantic
are
higher
if
we
participate
in
it.
So
we
took
that
approach.”
On
the
other
end
of
the
spectrum
is
The
New
York
Times,
which
is
engaged
in
an
expensive
legal
battle
against
OpenAI
and
Microsoft,
in
which
it
claims
the
tech
companies
infringed
on
its
copyright
when
they
built
their
AI
models.
Meta
leaning
into
news
and
current
events
within
its
AI
chatbot
is
notable,
considering
its
adversarial
stance
against
such
content
on
Threads.
Executives
have
publicly
said
the
company
is
“not
going
to
do
anything
to
encourage”
hard
news
and
political
content,
and
though
the
AI
chatbot
is
not
integrated
with
the
X
competitor,
it
feels
a
bit
like
Meta
wants
it
both
ways
—
users
can
get
their
news
from
Meta
platforms,
but
the
company
wants
control
over
how
they
do
so.
Though
Meta
now
appears
to
be
willing
to
pay
for
news
content,
it’s
also
simultaneously
fighting
laws
that
would
require
compensating
news
publishers
for
their
content
on
social
media.
If
you
live
in
Canada,
for
example,
you
can’t
access
news
on
Facebook
and
Instagram
because
rather
than
pony
up
according
to
a
new
law,
Meta
opted
to
block
all
publisher
accounts
and
links
on
the
platforms.
Google
threatened
similar
action
in
California,
where
another
“link
tax”
law
was
advancing
—
the
bill
ultimately
died,
and
news
outlets
and
Google
reached
a
$250
million
partnership
agreement.
Perhaps
unsurprisingly,
part
of
that
money
is
going
to
an
AI
program.
(Originally posted by Mia Sato)
Comments