OpenAI, a leading artificial intelligence company, has entered into a significant agreement with The Associated Press (AP), allowing OpenAI to train its AI models using AP’s extensive news archive. The collaboration, which will span two years, aims to enhance OpenAI’s systems by leveraging the vast amount of factual text content available in AP’s archive, some of which dates back to 1985.
With this partnership, OpenAI gains valuable access to AP’s extensive collection of news stories, enabling the company to further refine its AI algorithms and improve the capabilities of its models. In return, AP will benefit from OpenAI’s technology and product expertise, although specific details regarding the nature of this exchange have not been disclosed.
AP has been at the forefront of exploring AI features in journalism for several years. It initially ventured into AI-powered reporting in 2014, generating automated news stories covering company earnings. The news agency later expanded its utilization of AI technology to automatically generate reports on Minor League Baseball and college sports. AP’s integration of AI aligns with its commitment to innovation and its continuous efforts to adapt to the evolving landscape of the media industry.
By joining forces with OpenAI, AP joins an esteemed list of partners collaborating with the AI company. Recently, OpenAI announced a six-year partnership with Shutterstock, granting OpenAI access to a vast range of licensed images, videos, music, and metadata to train its text-to-image model, DALL-E. Additionally, BuzzFeed has expressed intentions to leverage AI tools provided by OpenAI to enhance and personalize its content. OpenAI’s collaboration with Microsoft, which includes a significant investment, demonstrates the company’s dedication to developing AI-powered products.
Brad Lightcap, Chief Operating Officer at OpenAI, expressed his enthusiasm about the partnership with AP, stating, “The AP continues to be an industry leader in the use of AI; their feedback โ along with access to their high-quality, factual text archive โ will help to improve the capabilities and usefulness of OpenAI’s systems.”
Earlier this year, AP unveiled several AI-powered projects, including Spanish-language news alerts and the documentation of public safety incidents in a Minnesota newspaper. The news agency also launched an AI search tool that facilitates news partners in finding specific photos and videos in its library based on descriptive language.
While AP’s collaboration with OpenAI represents a logical progression for the news outlet, specific details regarding the implementation of this technology remain undisclosed. AP clarifies that it does not employ AI directly in its news stories. Nevertheless, the news agency recognizes the potential benefits of leveraging AI tools to enhance its journalistic endeavours and improve the overall news experience for its readers.
