Amazon signs AI content deal with The New York Times

The New York Times has entered into a multiyear licensing agreement with Amazon, allowing the tech company to use its editorial content across various AI platforms.

The deal includes access to news articles, as well as content from NYT Cooking and The Athletic. It marks The Times’s first agreement specifically focused on generative AI technology.

It comes at a time when AI companies are struggling to improve their large language models, having already used up most readily available online data. Many, including ChatGPT-maker OpenAI, also face lawsuits over how that data was obtained and used.

In 2023, The Times sued OpenAI and Microsoft for allegedly using its content without permission to train AI models. Both companies denied the claims.

Amazon may integrate editorial content from The New York Times into its AI platforms, including Alexa-enabled devices. Some excerpts will include attribution and links to The Times’s website. The content will also help train Amazon’s proprietary AI models, according to the company. Data licensed from The New York Times may contribute to Amazon’s AGI efforts.

In addition to its internal initiatives, Amazon has built a close relationship with AI startup Anthropic, investing $4 billion over the past two years. This investment, similar to Microsoft’s partnership with OpenAI, gives Amazon access to Anthropic’s models and enables the tech giant to integrate those models into its cloud services, while also supplying computing power to the startup.