In recent months, news organizations have been in bed with OpenAI, concocting Faustian deals in which the cash-strapped media industry exchanges a monetary pittance for OpenAI's right to scrape and integrate their content into things like ChatGPT. Among those who have signed with blood are News Corp (publisher of the Wall Street Journal), he Financial times, People Dotdash magazine editor Meredith, the AP and now, The Atlantic and Vox Media.
The Atlantic and Vox Media quickly confirmed these new agreements shortly after axios first published the news.
The Atlantic says that it will be a “premium news source” on OpenAI and that all its quotes will be clearly attributed to The Atlantic with links to the original content. Publishers are concerned that users of ai chatbots don't actually need to go to the original sources; Perhaps the calculation is that, for an industry in the twilight of its useful life, some Inbound link traffic is better than none. On the other hand, by agreeing to be eliminated, perhaps The Atlantic is effectively walking straight into the pit of its own extinction (and the media as a whole). There will also be an experimental “microsite” called Atlantic Labs that will showcase “new products and features to better serve its journalism and readers.”
Vox Media (publisher of its main news site voice, technology site the edge, the network of sports blogs under the name SB Nation banner and many more) he says he will have a similar style of attribution and linking to your content.
Vox Media will also use OpenAI data both internally and in public content. Specifically, it will “improve” Vox's The Strategist Gift Scout tool that helps visitors find things to buy (and helps Vox Media earn affiliate income). You'll also be integrated into the publisher's internal advertising platform, so expect ads that are even better at following you around the internet and finding out what you want to buy.
There is no indication yet that either company publishes anything created directly by ai, such as sites like CNET and Sports Illustrated I've tried it with disastrous results, although neither company said anything about keeping ai out of their content. About The AtlanticIt seems likely that such experiments will remain in the new section of Atlantic Labs, at least to start.
While several publishers have been quick to embrace ai, not everyone is as enthusiastic. He New York Times sued OpenAI and Microsoft for copyright infringement in December, saying both companies use its material without permission to train their models. More recently, eight publications owned by Alden Capital Group, including the Chicago Grandstand and New York Daily News, sued both companies with a similar complaint. At this point, it seems like it's a matter of spending time and money on a lawsuit to pursue OpenAI's rampant intellectual theft or reaching a settlement that allows it to spend some money on a terrible media market.
it was only technology/archive/2024/05/fatal-flaw-publishers-making-openai-deals/678477/” rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank” data-ylk=”slk:last week;cpos:10;pos:1;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas” class=”link “>last week The Atlantic published his own speech denouncing media organizations that had received small amounts of money from ai intruders in exchange for something of significantly greater value. Unfortunately, the odds suggest that this story (and my moral high ground) will age just as poorly in the near future.
Update, May 29, 2024, 12:20 pm ET: This story has been updated to include details from Vox Media's official statement on the deal.
