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Outbyte PC Repair FREERepair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →OpenAI and News Corp announced a real multiyear content partnership on May 22, 2024. The companies did not disclose its price. The Wall Street Journal reported that the agreement could be worth more than $250 million over five years, including cash and credits for News Corp to use OpenAI technology. That is a reported estimate—not confirmation of an exact $250 million cash payment.
What the partnership covers
Under the public announcements, OpenAI gained access to current and archived material from participating News Corp news and information publications. OpenAI said it could display that content in response to user questions and use it to enhance its products. News Corp also said it would provide journalistic expertise intended to support journalism standards in OpenAI products. OpenAI’s announcement and News Corp’s announcement describe the arrangement as a multiyear global partnership.
Participating publications
The companies named publications including The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, MarketWatch, Investor’s Business Daily, FN, the New York Post, The Times, The Sunday Times, The Sun, The Australian, news.com.au, The Daily Telegraph, The Courier Mail, The Advertiser and the Herald Sun. OpenAI’s announcement says the agreement did not include content from News Corp’s other businesses, so it should not be treated as a license covering every News Corp asset.
What the reported $250 million figure means
The Wall Street Journal reported that the deal could be worth more than $250 million over five years, with value including cash payments and credits for News Corp to use OpenAI technology. The report was reproduced in a Journal page dated May 23, 2024. The companies’ public releases call the partnership multiyear but do not state a five-year term or a dollar amount.
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The distinction matters, especially when assessing the deal as a business transaction. “Could be worth more than” is not an exact price, and technology credits are not necessarily equivalent to unrestricted cash: their value may depend on use and the contract’s terms. The public materials do not set out the payment schedule, how the reported value is accounted for, or how much would be paid in cash.
The Washington Post’s coverage likewise noted that the companies did not disclose financial terms. Neither the reported threshold nor the reported term establishes a guaranteed annual payment or the amount News Corp ultimately received.
Rank #2
Does the agreement include AI training?
The public announcements say OpenAI may display News Corp content in answers to user questions and use it to enhance its products. They do not explain, model by model or product by product, whether or how the material is used for training, retrieval, search, summaries, answer generation, testing or internal research. The Associated Press described the arrangement as covering training purposes and answering user questions; Reuters reporting carried by Investing.com also summarized the partnership. Those descriptions should not be mistaken for a publicly available contract spelling out every technical use.
Nor does permission to display content establish that entire articles can be reproduced. The public materials do not specify excerpt limits, paywall treatment, quotation rules or attribution mechanics. The deal also does not show that every ChatGPT answer or OpenAI model uses News Corp material.
Why the partnership matters to publishers
The arrangement illustrates one approach to the conflict between news publishers and AI developers: negotiate access to journalism rather than leave use of that material to a broader copyright dispute. News Corp supplies licensed reporting and archives; OpenAI gains access to a large collection of premium news content for its products. The reported cash-and-credits structure also points to a commercial exchange in which technology access may form part of a publisher’s consideration.
For publishers, licensing can create a new source of value for current reporting and archives. But AI answers may also affect whether readers visit publishers’ own sites. The announcement does not establish that the partnership will increase News Corp traffic, protect its subscription revenue or guarantee accurate answers. Nor does one negotiated license resolve wider questions about copyrighted material outside the agreement, content used before it, or how AI-generated outputs handle protected works.
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Rank #4
What is not publicly established
- Exact price and payment terms: Neither company’s announcement gives a price, payment schedule or final realized value.
- Exclusivity: The public announcements reviewed do not describe the deal as exclusive.
- Use by specific models or products: The announcements do not map the licensed material to particular models or features.
- Display rules: They do not state how much text may appear in an answer or how citations, attribution and paywalls are handled.
- Broader copyright resolution: The partnership concerns participating News Corp content; it does not settle every copyright question involving OpenAI.
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