Meta signs AI deals with news publishers to power chatbot with real-time information

Meta signs commercial AI data agreements with publishers to offer real-time news on Meta AI | TechCrunch

Meta has signed commercial AI data agreements with news publishers to offer real-time global, entertainment, and breaking news on Meta AI, its AI chatbot. Now, when users ask Meta AI news-related questions, it will surface information and links that draw from different content sources to help users discover timely and relevant content, the company announced on Friday. These responses will also include links to articles, so users can visit publishers' websites to learn more. The company says this will allow its partners to reach new audiences. Meta is partnering with CNN, Fox News, Fox Sports, Le Monde Group, the People Inc. portfolio of media brands, The Daily Caller, The Washington Examiner, and USA Today. The company plans to add new partnerships in the future. The move comes as Meta shifted away from making its platforms hubs for news. For example, it killed Facebook's "News" tab in 2024. Additionally, Meta stopped compensating news publishers in 2022, but is now doing so to help supercharge its AI chatbot with real-time access to news. "We're committed to making Meta AI more responsive, accurate, and balanced," Meta wrote in a blog post. "Real-time events can be challenging for current AI systems to keep up with, but by integrating more and different types of news sources, our aim is to improve Meta AI's ability to deliver timely and relevant content and information with a wide variety of viewpoints and content types." The company is looking to attract more users to its AI chatbot as it faces increasing competition from rivals. Meta is also looking to stay relevant in the AI race after the controversial release of Llama 4, which was met with complaints of poor performance earlier this year. Meta AI is available in over 200 countries and can be accessed through the company's apps, including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger, as well as through the standalone Meta AI app.

Meta strikes AI licensing deals with CNN, Fox News, and USA Today

On Friday, Meta announced that its AI chatbot will now respond with information from CNN, Fox News, USA Today, and People Inc.'s portfolio, as part of a new partnership with the companies. The deal comes as publishers continue to sue AI companies for stealing content. The New York Times filed a lawsuit against AI startup Perplexity on Friday, for example, seeking to stop it from pulling its news until the two companies reach an agreement. Meta says the partnerships will "improve Meta AI's ability to deliver timely and relevant content and information with a wide variety of viewpoints and content types." It has also struck deals with conservative outlets The Daily Caller and The Washington Examiner, as well as the French media conglomerate group Le Monde. Meta's shift toward AI-focused licensing agreements comes after the company backed out of deals with major publications and shuttered Facebook's News tab. It also pulled news content from Facebook and Instagram in Canada after the country enacted a law requiring it to pay for news content.

Meta strikes multiple AI deals with news publishers

Meta has struck several commercial AI data agreements with news publishers, including USA Today, People, CNN, Fox News, The Daily Caller, Washington Examiner and Le Monde, the company said on Friday. The tie-ups will allow the Facebook-parent to provide "real-time" news and updates through its artificial intelligence chatbot by linking to articles and websites from the publishers. The move comes as the social media giant looks to attract more users to its AI services amid increasing competition in the market, with rivals also investing heavily and signing content licensing agreements to bolster their offerings. "When you ask Meta AI news-related questions, you will now receive information and links that draw from more diverse content sources to help you discover timely and relevant content tailored to your interests," the company said. Meta has been scrambling to stay relevant in the AI race after its Llama 4 model met with poor reception, while committing billions to AI efforts, and reportedly looking to make budget cuts in its metaverse initiative. The company said it will continue to add new partnerships and explore new features. Terms of the deal have not been publicly disclosed, People Inc. and USA Today said separately on Friday.

Meta cuts deals with several news publishers for AI use

Meta has cut several deals with news publishers to help provide real-time data for its AI chatbot services, . The commercial agreements will allow its Meta AI chatbots to better answer user queries about news and current events. These are multiyear deals where publishers will be compensated for the use of their content, but we don't have any monetary specifics. The contracts do stipulate that Meta's chatbots will link out to articles when answering news queries, potentially offering a slight traffic boost to publishers. The news partners include USA Today, People, Le Monde and CNN. However, there are also a whole lot of conservative outlets included in today's announcement, such as Fox News, The Daily Caller and Washington Examiner. It's a good thing Meta's AI will provide the aforementioned links, just in case a chatbot says something crazy about whatever nonsense culture war topic is going on that day. Meta has announced that this is just a first step and that it will be adding more news partners to cover more topics in the future. This is an interesting move because Meta has long-been averse to . It stopped paying US publishers and the Facebook news tab .

Meta's Chatbot Will Provide AI-Powered Live News via CNN, Fox News

We once again have to hear the nine most terrifying words in the English language: "We're Facebook, and we're here to fix the news." This time, the solution from the social media giant is to deliver breaking news via chatbot. On Friday, Meta announced that it has partnered with several new organizations, including CNN and Fox News, to provide real-time headlines and information via Meta AI. The full list of partners for the new initiative, which will see the company's chatbot and other AI products able to serve up information on breaking news stories, will also include Fox Sports, French publisher Le Monde Group, the People Inc. portfolio of media brands (which includes People, Food and Wine, Travel and Leisure, and Entertainment Weekly, among others), The Daily Caller, The Washington Examiner, and USA Today. It's a full-spectrum selection of down-the-middle-ish outlets and straight-up right-wing activist publications, so basically exactly what you would expect out of the platform run by a Trump-aligned CEO. According to Meta, if you ask its Meta AI about current events, it'll now be able to receive information from recently published news stories and links to read more timely content from "more diverse content sources." The company says its goal is to eventually "provide something for everyone by continuing to add new content sources and topics." At this point, Meta has a long and storied history of bringing users the news in new ways that ultimately end up making everything worse. Back in 2016, when the company had its now long-dead "Trending news" module, it came out that the company wasn't neutrally serving up algorithmically chosen stories as many may have thought and was instead curating stories behind the scenes. Once that came to light, the company did get rid of humans and immediately unleashed a spate of misinformation amplified by the algorithm that couldn't discern fact from fiction. Shortly after that, in an attempt to boost its video platform, the company started shoveling money into publishers' pockets to push them to create video content, leading to the great "Pivot to Video" era of the digital news industry. Then they pulled the plug on that plan, and all that money that publishers banked on eventually dried up and took down their operations. That doesn't even start to touch on all of the publishers who found a huge audience on Facebook only to have it evaporate entirely as a result of an unannounced and unexplained change in the algorithm that deprioritized them, or the massive amount of misinformation and propaganda that has run wild on the platform in its post-fact-check era. But surely just feeding information into the black box of a chatbot for it to sort out will end well. And there's no way that publishers regret letting their information get aggregated in real-time, as if Google's AI Overviews haven't provided a clear example of how that type of content kills click-throughs to the site so people actually read the article. This is going to be the time Meta finally solves news. Or kills it. What's the difference, really?

Exclusive: Meta strikes multiple AI deals with news publishers

Why it matters: Meta backed away from compensating news companies several years ago, but has resumed paying for editorial content as it invests more in its AI chat tools that require real-time access to verified news. Zoom in: The new agreements allow Meta to access content from its partners to provide real-time answers to user queries about news and current events in its Meta AI chatbot. * Like its previously announced deal with Reuters, the new agreements are multiyear deals where publishers are compensated for the use of their content. * The new deals are meant to provide users with a broader range of verified content that spans global news, entertainment and lifestyle. * Over time, the company plans to add more news partners and topics while expanding new features for users looking to access to real-time information. How it works: Meta's AI chatbot is integrated into the search and messaging features on Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger. * When users ask Meta's AI chatbot a question that requires a real-time news response, they will not only receive information about the source that Meta AI has pulled the answers from, but the chatbot will also link out to articles on the publishers' websites. Zoom out: It's notable that Meta is partnering with conservative news organizations, such as Fox News, The Daily Caller and Washington Examiner, because of its complicated history with making news partnership decisions. * In 2016, Facebook was accused of censoring conservative stories in its trending topics feature. That allegation, which it denied, kicked off years of scrutiny from Republicans that the tech giant was biased against conservative voices. * When the company launched its News Tab in 2019, it included conservative outlets, such as Breitbart, as sources. The big picture: While users can still share news across Meta's non-AI products, its platforms -- specifically Facebook -- are no longer built to be hubs for sharing news articles. Rather, they have shifted to elevate viral video content.

Meta partners with news outlets to expand AI content

Washington (United States) (AFP) - Meta announced Friday it will integrate content from major news organizations into its artificial intelligence assistant to provide Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp users with real-time information. The social media giant said Meta AI will offer breaking news, entertainment and lifestyle stories when users ask news-related questions, drawing from partnerships with outlets including CNN, Fox News, Le Monde, People and USA Today. The feature will allow users to access "more diverse content sources" and receive links to partner websites to dive deeper into stories, Meta said in a blog post. Meta said the expansion aims to make its AI assistant "more responsive, accurate, and balanced" by incorporating diverse viewpoints, acknowledging that "real-time events can be challenging for current AI systems to keep up with." The initial partnerships span mainstream and conservative-leaning publications, including The Daily Caller and The Washington Examiner. The company said it plans to continue adding partnerships and develop new features as competition intensifies among technology firms to enhance the capabilities of their AI assistants. Meta AI is available across the company's platforms, serving billions of users globally. The announcement comes as artificial intelligence companies, including ChatGPT and Google's Gemini, increasingly move to incorporate live web content and news feeds. Meta has had a hot and cold relationship with the news media over the years. The company founded by Mark Zuckerberg in 2004 declared that news was a very small share of user engagement on the company's platforms and began shutting down the Facebook News tab in markets like the United States, Britain and France. This also saw the end of multi-million dollar deals with leading news organizations. Zuckerberg also made the surprise decision in January to axe Meta's US fact-checking program, as he more closely aligned with the Trump administration's antipathy to establishment news. That scheme had employed third-party fact checkers, many from news media organizations such as AFP, to expose misinformation disseminated on the platform.

Meta partners with news outlets to expand AI content

Meta announced Friday it will integrate content from major news organizations into its artificial intelligence assistant to provide Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp users with real-time information. The feature will allow users to access "more diverse content sources" and receive links to partner websites to dive deeper into stories, Meta said in a blog post. Meta announced Friday it will integrate content from major news organizations into its artificial intelligence assistant to provide Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp users with real-time information. The social media giant said Meta AI will offer breaking news, entertainment and lifestyle stories when users ask news-related questions, drawing from partnerships with outlets including CNN, Fox News, Le Monde, People and USA Today. The feature will allow users to access "more diverse content sources" and receive links to partner websites to dive deeper into stories, Meta said in a blog post. Meta said the expansion aims to make its AI assistant "more responsive, accurate, and balanced" by incorporating diverse viewpoints, acknowledging that "real-time events can be challenging for current AI systems to keep up with." The initial partnerships span mainstream and conservative-leaning publications, including The Daily Caller and The Washington Examiner. The company said it plans to continue adding partnerships and develop new features as competition intensifies among technology firms to enhance the capabilities of their AI assistants. Meta AI is available across the company's platforms, serving billions of users globally. The announcement comes as artificial intelligence companies, including OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Gemini, increasingly move to incorporate live web content and news feeds. OpenAI has deals with News Corp, Le Monde, The Washington Post and Axel Springer, while The New York Times has partnered with Amazon and Google has partnered with The Associated Press. Europe's Mistral has partnered with Agence France-Presse. At the end of August, the startup Perplexity unveiled a subscription package called Comet Plus, named after its AI-infused internet browser, Comet, which gives access to partnered media content for $5 per month. Perplexity has committed to redistributing 80 percent of the revenue generated by Comet Plus to news publishers. Despite these collaborations, several lawsuits brought by media outlets against AI companies are ongoing, notably that of The New York Times against OpenAI, which the newspaper accuses of using its articles without authorization and without compensation. In recent days The New York Times and the Chicago Tribune joined The Wall Street Journal and The New York Post with their own lawsuits against Perplexity. Meta has had a sometimes turbulent relationship with the news media over the years. The company founded by Mark Zuckerberg declared in 2024 that news was a very small share of user engagement on the company's platforms and began shutting down the Facebook News tab in markets including the United States, Britain and France. This also saw the end of multi-million-dollar deals with leading news organizations. Zuckerberg also made the surprise decision in January to end Meta's US fact-checking program, as he more closely aligned with the Trump administration's antipathy toward establishment news. That program had employed third-party fact-checkers, many from news media organizations such as AFP, to identify misinformation disseminated on the platform. The AI news came a day after Meta's share price rose sharply on a report that the company is significantly cutting back on virtual reality investments as it pivots toward artificial intelligence.

Meta strikes multiple AI deals with news publishers

Meta has struck several commercial AI data agreements with news publishers including USA Today, People Inc, CNN, Fox News, The Daily Caller, Washington Examiner and Le Monde, the company said on Friday. The tie-ups will allow the Facebook-parent to provide "real-time" news and updates through its artificial intelligence chatbot by linking to articles and websites from the publishers. The move comes as the social media giant looks to attract more users to its AI services amid increasing competition in the market, with rivals also investing heavily and signing content licensing agreements to bolster their offerings. "When you ask Meta AI news-related questions, you will now receive information and links that draw from more diverse content sources to help you discover timely and relevant content tailored to your interests," the company said. Meta has been scrambling to stay relevant in the AI race after its Llama 4 model met with poor reception, while committing billions to AI efforts, and reportedly looking to make budget cuts in its metaverse initiative. The company said it will continue to add new partnerships and explore new features. Terms of the deal have not been publicly disclosed, People Inc. and USA Today said separately on Friday.

Meta reaches AI deals with CNN, Fox News, other media outlets

Mark Zuckerberg's Meta has reached deals to pay Fox News, CNN and several other news publishers in exchange for using their articles in its AI chatbot, the company said Friday. The tech giant said the partnerships will give users more access to "real-time content" in the form of links to articles and websites when they submit queries to its AI tools. In addition to CNN and Fox News, Meta struck agreements with Fox Sports, Le Monde Group, People, the Daily Caller, the Washington Examiner, USA Today and the USA Today Network, the company said. "When you ask Meta AI news-related questions, you'll now receive information and links that draw from more diverse content sources to help you discover timely and relevant content tailored to our interests," the company wrote in a blog post. The terms of the partnerships are similar to Meta's previously announced deal with Reuters in October 2024, which was a multi-year agreement that included unspecified compensation, a company spokesperson said. Meta said it will continue to add more partnerships with news outlets in the future. Financial terms of the deals were not disclosed, and Meta declined further comment. The agreements marked a shift for Meta, which has resisted calls from executives and regulators in the US and abroad to pay proper compensation to publishers for their organizations' work. The group of outlets in the new deals come from across the political spectrum - the latest sign that Meta is trying to address allegations of political bias in its products. The News/Media Alliance, a trade group that represents hundreds of news outlets including The Post, expressed cautious optimism about the announcement. "These deals reinforce the strength of the licensing market, and also demonstrate both that there is value in our content and that licensing is in fact possible," said Danielle Coffey, the News/Media Alliance's CEO and president. "Certainty in the law will help ensure there's a fair exchange and that all rights are enforced." Meta scrapped its Facebook News tab in the US and Australia in 2024 and blocked Canadian users from accessing news content after the country passed a law requiring it to pay publishers. In 2022, Meta began informing US news publishers it would no longer pay for content and pulled all funding for the deals. Meta and rivals like OpenAI and Google have faced mounting pressure to pay publishers due to concerns that they've used copyrighted content to train their AI models without proper credit or permission. As The Post reported, a group of prominent conservatives recently urged President Trump to resist Big Tech's argument that its use of copyrighted material is protected by so-called "fair use doctrine." Fox News shares a common owner with News Corp, which publishes The Post.

Meta Strikes Content Deals With USA Today, People

Meta Platforms said it has entered content-licensing pacts with USA Today and People, providing the tech company with access to the publishers' new and archival content. Terms of either deal weren't publicly disclosed. USA Today, formerly Gannett, said Friday that the multi-year AI licensing partnership will enable Meta's family of apps and devices to feature news and timely information from its more than 200 local publications and sports wires. People separately said its deal with Meta includes its namesake brand, in addition to Better Homes & Gardens, Allrecipes, Food & Wine, Southern Living, Verywell Health, InStyle and more. AI companies have been hungry for publishers' content, which can help them refine their models and create new products such as AI-powered search. Publishers, meanwhile, have sought to ensure that they extract a hefty payment for the use of their intellectual property, setting up complex and sometimes tense negotiations across the industry. "Partnerships that help people access a range of information are a useful model to implement as publishers embrace transformative technology," USA Today Chief Executive Mike Reed said. "Our deal with Meta reflects responsible collaboration between trusted journalism and the information ecosystem." People Chief Executive Neil Vogel added separately that future AI innovation depends on trusted content, and that the company is proud to be Meta's first lifestyle content partner.

Meta strikes multiple AI deals with news publishers

Dec 5 (Reuters) - Meta has struck several commercial AI data agreements with news publishers including USA Today, People Inc, CNN, Fox News, The Daily Caller, Washington Examiner and Le Monde, the company said on Friday. The tie-ups will allow the Facebook-parent to provide "real-time" news and updates through its artificial intelligence chatbot by linking to articles and websites from the publishers. The move comes as the social media giant looks to attract more users to its AI services amid increasing competition in the market, with rivals also investing heavily and signing content licensing agreements to bolster their offerings. (Reporting by Zaheer Kachwala in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)