Associated Press, OpenAI partner to explore generative AI use in news

The Associated Press is licensing a part its archive of news stories to OpenAI under a deal that will explore generative AI's use in news, the companies said on Thursday, a move that could set the precedent for similar partnerships between the industries.

The news publisher will gain access to OpenAI's technology and product expertise as part of the deal, whose financial details were not disclosed.

AP also did not reveal how it would integrate OpenAI's technology in its news operations. The publisher already uses AI for automating corporate earnings reports, recapping sporting events and transcription for certain live events.

Its trove of news stories will help provide the massive amounts of data needed to train AI systems such as ChatGPT, which have dazzled consumers and businesses with their ability to plan vacations, summarize legal documents and write computer code.

News publications have, however, been slow to adopt the tech over concerns about its tendency to generate factually incorrect information, as well as challenges in differentiating between content produced by humans and computer programs.

"Generative AI is a fast-moving space with tremendous implications for the news industry," said Kristin Heitmann, AP's senior vice president and chief revenue officer.

"News organizations must have a seat at the table... so that newsrooms large and small can leverage this technology to benefit journalism."

Some outlets are already using generative AI for their content. BuzzFeed had announced that it will use AI to power personality quizzes on its site, and the New York Times used ChatGPT to create a Valentine's Day message-generator this year.

AP's "feedback - along with access to their high-quality, factual text archive - will help to improve the capabilities and usefulness of OpenAI's systems," said Brad Lightcap, chief operating officer at OpenAI.