OpenAI and Hearst have entered into a content agreement. The deal will integrate Hearst's newspaper and magazine content into OpenAI's AI products.
Over 20 magazine brands and more than 40 Hearst newspapers, including the Houston Chronicle, San Francisco Chronicle and Esquire, will be incorporated into ChatGPT. Content appearing in ChatGPT will include source tags and direct links. Hearst's businesses outside of magazines and newspapers are not part of the partnership.
While OpenAI's media deals provide access to high-quality content, they raise concerns about creating unfair advantages for select publishers. I argue this puts pressure on other media companies to make similar deals if they are provided the opportunity by OpenAI.
Least bad
However, OpenAI's approach is at least more transparent than some alternatives. Perplexity, for instance, has faced criticism for using content without permission.
Google is trying to use its search dominance to push publishers into AI-generated responses, it's also trying to avoid paying for original reporting through deals like its recent agreement with Reddit. Google boosted Reddit's visibility in its search products, with Reddit posts citing original reporting before the original report appears in search. Google can then generate AI responses based on Reddit threads.
While not perfect, OpenAI's strategy of forming explicit partnerships and providing attribution represents a step toward addressing some ethical concerns around AI training data. Still, if SearchGPT is successful, the media industry will be in the hands of OpenAI.
