Meta signs its first major AI news deal

Meta’s AI chatbot will start quoting soon Reuters reporting while answering news related questions. What did these two companies do? Axios describes as a “multi-year contract” that will allow Meta to use Reuters the content of its chatbot responses. The deal is the first of its kind for Meta, in an era of news outlets agreeing to provide their content to AI companies.

“We’re constantly iterating and working to improve our products, and through Meta’s partnership with Reuters, Meta AI can answer news-related questions with summaries and links to Reuters content,” Meta spokesman Jamie Radice said in an email. “While many people use Meta AI to perform creative tasks, delve into new topics or how they can help, this partnership will help ensure the most useful information for those seeking information on current events.”

Reuters did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Axios report that Reuters will be compensated for its content from Meta’s AI chatbot, accessible via Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger, and links Reuters The news will start appearing for US users on Friday. Many of Meta’s most prominent AI features to date have focused on character — the celebrity interviews the company recently deleted, for example — rather than focusing on current events. Radice did not respond to questions about security measures in place for AI responses to news and current events.

“AI is coming, coming fast. We want to be a part of any change that will happen,” The Atlantic CEO Nicholas Thompson he told The Verge. “Change can be bad, change can be good, but we believe that the chances of it being good for journalism and the kind of work we do with the Atlantic are high if we participate in it. So we took that approach.”

Meta’s reliance on news and current events within its AI chatbot is notable, given its oppositional stance against such content in Threads. Executives said the company “will do nothing to promote” heavy news and political content, and although the AI ​​chatbot is not integrated with the X competition, it feels like Meta wants it both ways – users can get news from Meta’s platforms, but the company it wants to control how they do that.