Amazon to Pay NYT Up to $25 Million for AI Licensing

Core Insights - Amazon has entered into an AI licensing deal with The New York Times, reportedly costing between $20 million and $25 million annually, which is significant for both companies as it reflects the evolving relationship between publishers and AI firms [2][3] Group 1: Deal Details - The agreement allows Amazon to access content from The New York Times' news, cooking, and sports sections to train its AI models, marking the Times' first AI-related licensing agreement and Amazon's first with a publisher [3] - The annual payments from Amazon represent nearly 1% of The New York Times' total revenue projected for 2024 [2] Group 2: Industry Context - Other AI firms, such as OpenAI, have made similar licensing agreements with publishers, including a deal with News Corp valued at over $250 million over five years and a three-year agreement with Axel Springer worth between $25 million and $30 million [4] - Google is reportedly planning to recruit around 20 national news outlets to license their materials for AI training [4] Group 3: Legal Landscape - Several publishers, including The New York Times, have initiated lawsuits against AI companies for copyright infringement, highlighting ongoing legal challenges in the industry [5] - Recent court victories for Meta and Anthropic regarding fair use of copyrighted content do not signify a conclusive resolution to the legal disputes surrounding AI training practices [6]