Meta Explores AI Content Licensing Deals with Major News Organizations

Meta in talks with Axel Springer, Fox and others on AI news licensing, WSJ reports

Sept 18 (Reuters) - Meta Platforms (META.O), opens new tab has been in talks in recent months with media firms including Axel Springer, Fox Corp (FOXA.O), opens new tab and News Corp (NWSA.O), opens new tab to license news content for integration into its AI products, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. The discussions have centred on licensing news and other material for use in Meta's AI products, though some talks remain preliminary and may not result in deals, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter. A spokesperson for Axel Springer declined to comment while Meta, News Corp, and Fox did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment. Meta has been reorganizing its AI efforts under Superintelligence Labs, a high-stakes push that followed senior staff departures and a muted response to its latest open-source Llama 4 model. Other companies, including ChatGPT-maker OpenAI and Jeff Bezos-backed startup Perplexity, have struck similar AI partnerships with news organizations. Reuters signed a content licensing with Meta Platforms in 2024. In May, Amazon partnered with The New York Times to allow it to use the paper's editorial content in AI products such as Alexa. Reporting by Dagmarah Mackos in Barcelona; Editing by Jan Harvey and Bernadette Baum Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

Meta to News Companies: Help Us Train Our AI | PYMNTS.com

By completing this form, you agree to receive marketing communications from PYMNTS and to the sharing of your information with our sponsor, if applicable, in accordance with our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions. The tech giant has had discussions with companies including Axel Springer, Fox Corp and News Corp, about licensing their articles for use in its artificial intelligence (AI) tools, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported Thursday (Sept. 18), citing sources familiar with the matter. The WSJ notes that this marks a shift for Meta, which has in recent years focused less on news content and has had an on-again, off-again relationship with publishers. After forging multimillion-dollar deals to include stories from outlets like the WSJ and New York Times in its News tab, the company in 2022 said it would stop paying publishers. According to the report, Meta's move to give news less priority has caused many publishers' Facebook traffic to drop. Meta's decision to give less priority to news led to declines in traffic from Facebook for many publishers. In recent months, however, some publishers said they have seen an uptick in traffic from the platform. PYMNTS has contacted Meta for comment but has not yet gotten a reply. The company's apparent efforts follow Google's reported push to recruit news companies for an AI-related licensing project, per a July Bloomberg News report. That report, citing sources familiar with the matter, said Google was aiming to launch a pilot project with around 20 national news organizations. "We've said that we're exploring and experimenting with new types of partnerships and product experiences, but we aren't sharing details about specific plans or conversations at this time," a Google spokesperson told Bloomberg. Meanwhile, AI search firm Perplexity last month said it had set aside $42.5 million for a revenue sharing program that pays publishers when their content is used by the company's Comet browser or AI assistant. "AI is helping to create a better internet, but publishers still need to get paid," CEO Arvind Srinivas said at the time. "Sowe think this is actually the right solution, and we're happy to make adjustments along the way." Many media companies have taken AI firms to court, accusing them of copyright infringement. One day after Perplexity announced the revenue sharing program, a pair of Japanese companies -- Nikkei and the Asahi Shimbun newspaper -- ± sued the company for using their published work without consent.

Meta in talks with Fox Corp, News Corp, Axel Springer over AI content...

Meta has held talks in recent months with news organizations including Axel Springer, Fox Corp and News Corp - The Post's owner - over content licensing deals for its artificial intelligence tools, according to a report. The company currently offers several AI tools, including a chatbot called Meta AI Assistant that is embedded across Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. The discussions have revolved around licensing news and other content for use across its AI bots, people familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal. Some of the talks are early and might not result in deals, according to the report. But it still represents a major shift for Mark Zuckerberg's social media giant, which has backed away from paying for news content in recent years. Fox Corp and News Corp share common ownership. Meta did not immediately respond to The Post's request for comment. Years ago, the company signed deals worth tens of millions of dollars to include content from the New York Times, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal - also owned by News Corp - in its News Tab. But in 2022, Meta announced it was phasing out those payments to publishers. A spokeswoman at the time said that most users don't come to Facebook for news, so it doesn't make sense to overinvest in that area. After Meta reversed the deals, many publishers noticed they were bringing in less traffic from Facebook. But in recent months, some have said they have seen an uptick in traffic from the platform. Meanwhile, AI has also caused massive disruptions in the publishing industry, with some tech firms scraping websites for content to train their large language models. Publishers have also claimed that traffic to their sites has been crushed by new features, like Google's AI summary, which populates at the top of search results. Companies have tried to find ways to block AI crawlers from stealing from their sites without compensation. Meta announced an AI content-licensing deal with Reuters last October, but it has only started having wider conversations with more publishers in recent months, according to the report. Many of the firm's rivals have been quicker to sign deals with media conglomerates. OpenAI reached licensing agreements with News Corp, Axel Springer and Dotdash Meredith - since renamed People Inc. Jeff Bezos' Amazon has a similar deal with the New York Times.

Meta in talks with media firms for AI content licensing - report By Investing.com

Investing.com -- Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) has been discussing potential licensing agreements with several major media companies to integrate news content into its artificial intelligence products, according to a Wall Street Journal report published Thursday. The social media giant has held conversations in recent months with media organizations including Axel Springer, Fox Corp (NASDAQ:FOX) and News Corp (NASDAQ:NWSA), the report said, citing people familiar with the matter. These discussions have focused specifically on licensing news and other content for use in Meta's AI offerings. However, some of the talks remain in preliminary stages and may not necessarily lead to finalized agreements, the sources indicated. The potential partnerships would allow Meta to incorporate news content from established media outlets into its developing AI products, though specific details about how this content would be utilized were not disclosed in the report. This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.

Meta in talks with Axel Springer, Fox and others on AI news licensing, WSJ reports

(Reuters) -Meta Platforms has been in talks in recent months with media firms including Axel Springer, Fox Corp and News Corp to license news content for integration into its AI products, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. The discussions have centred on licensing news and other material for use in Meta's AI products, though some talks remain preliminary and may not result in deals, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter. A spokesperson for Axel Springer declined to comment while Meta, News Corp, and Fox did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment. Meta has been reorganizing its AI efforts under Superintelligence Labs, a high-stakes push that followed senior staff departures and a muted response to its latest open-source Llama 4 model. Other companies, including ChatGPT-maker OpenAI and Jeff Bezos-backed startup Perplexity, have struck similar AI partnerships with news organizations. Reuters signed a content licensing with Meta Platforms in 2024. In May, Amazon partnered with The New York Times to allow it to use the paper's editorial content in AI products such as Alexa. (Reporting by Dagmarah Mackos in Barcelona; Editing by Jan Harvey and Bernadette Baum)