Major news publishers are in discussions to form a coalition that will examine the impact of artificial intelligence on the news industry, according to a report.
The possibility of a coalition has been discussed by staff at the New York Times, News Corp and Vox Media, which owns Politico, among others, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal, which cited sources familiar with the matter. Coordination between the major publishers comes amid concerns that growing artificial intelligence technology may reshape the industry.
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News Corp owns The Journal, as well as The New York Post, and shares common ownership with Fox News.
The Journal reported that its sources said there is disagreement on how exactly to focus the potential artifical intelligence coalition. There are several concerns over artificial intelligence within the news industry.
Publishers reportedly want to ensure compensation when artifical intelligence uses news websites as a source or a development tool. Some news outlets have already negotiated deals, such as The New York Times and News Corp with Alphabet’s Google.
There is also concern that the use of artifical intelligence by consumers to gain knowledge on subject matters may decrease traffic on news websites.
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News Corp Chief Executive Robert Thomson has emerged as a top critic of artificial intelligence in the publishing industry. He warned in May that the intellectual property of publishers is at risk.
"Firstly, our content is being harvested and scraped and otherwise ingested to train AI engines," Thomson said at a news event. "Secondly, individual stories will be surfaced in specific searches. And, thirdly, our content will be synthesized and presented as distinct when it is actually an extracting of editorial essence."
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Another publisher involved in discussions is Condé Nast, which runs publications such as Vogue, The New Yorker, and Vanity Fair. Dotdash Merdedith, which includes publications such as Investopedia and People, is also involved.
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The potential coalition is coming together amid tension between publishers and technology companies such as Facebook and Google. The News Media Alliance, a trade association that represents roughly 2,000 newspapers in the United States and Canada, has lobbied Congress this year to pass a bill that would allow publishers to negotiate compensation from tech companies.
