The Financial Times, one of the most respected news organizations out there, has just jumped on the AI bandwagon by signing a content licensing deal with none other than OpenAI, the masterminds behind the insanely popular ChatGPT chatbot.
So, what does this mean? Basically, the FT is giving OpenAI the green light to train its AI models using the publisher’s archived content. Additionally, when you use ChatGPT to ask about topics related to the FT’s coverage, you might see excerpts from their articles popping up in the chatbot’s responses.
But this isn’t just a one-way street. The FT sees this as a strategic partnership that could lead to some seriously cool AI-powered products and features that will take their journalism to the next level. Of course, they will receive compensation for allowing OpenAI to use their content to enhance its generative AI.
John Ridding, the big boss at the Financial Times Group, had this to say: “This is an important agreement that recognizes the value of our award-winning journalism and will give us early insights into how content is surfaced through AI.”
So, what’s in it for you, the ChatGPT user? Well, when you ask the AI about topics that the FT covers, you’ll start seeing summaries, quotes, and links to their articles in the chatbot’s responses. The FT claims that this will not only acquaint new readers with their subscription-based journalism, but also guarantee that OpenAI’s language models originate from dependable, fact-based sources.
“Through the partnership, ChatGPT users will be able to see select attributed summaries, quotes and rich links to FT journalism in response to relevant queries,” the FT explained. They also mentioned that they’re hoping to create “new AI products and features for FT readers” by collaborating with OpenAI.
OpenAI’s COO, Brad Lightcap, seemed pretty excited about the deal, saying it allows for “finding creative and productive ways for AI to empower news organizations and journalists and enrich the ChatGPT experience with real-time, world-class journalism.”
Ridding also pointed out that “OpenAI understands the importance of transparency, attribution, and compensation—all essential for us. At the same time, it’s clearly in the interests of users that these products contain reliable sources.”
This isn’t the first time OpenAI has inked a deal like this with a major publisher. Over the past year, they’ve struck similar agreements with big names like The Associated Press, Germany’s Axel Springer, France’s Le Monde, and Spain’s Prisa Media. But, as usual, they’re keeping the financial details under wraps.
The FT says this partnership shows that they’re serious about diving deep into the world of generative AI and exploring how it could shape the future of journalism as the technology continues to evolve at breakneck speed. They even mentioned that they became early customers of OpenAI’s enterprise offering earlier this year.
The Financial Times and OpenAI are teaming up to bring you smarter, more reliable AI-powered news, and we can’t wait to see what kind of innovative products and features they come up with.
The Information is Taken from The Hindu and Times of India