German media company Axel Springer has formed a groundbreaking partnership with OpenAI, a research company backed by Microsoft. This unique collaboration marks the first of its kind between a publishing company and an artificial intelligence (AI) research company.
Through this partnership, Axel Springer will have access to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, an advanced AI model powered by GPT-4. ChatGPT will be able to retrieve and summarize content from Axel Springer’s media brands, which include renowned platforms such as Politico, Business Insider, Bild, and Welt.
By leveraging ChatGPT, users will have the opportunity to access summaries of selected global news content, including paid articles that would otherwise require a subscription.
Brad Lightcap, OpenAI’s Chief Operating Officer, expressed his enthusiasm for the partnership, stating that it will offer people innovative ways to access high-quality, up-to-date news content using AI tools. The official announcement highlighted the potential for OpenAI and Axel Springer to collaborate on enhancing the training of OpenAI’s sophisticated large language models, thereby benefiting Axel Springer’s existing AI-driven ventures.
The collaboration between Axel Springer and OpenAI aligns with the media company’s ambition to explore the possibilities of AI-driven journalism and elevate the quality, societal impact, and business models employed in the industry. Mathias Döpfner, CEO and media mogul of Axel Springer, emphasized the goal of this partnership to deliver a new level of excellence to journalism that will resonate with readers and society at large.
This announcement comes in the wake of Google’s trial of an AI tool last summer, which allowed executives from prominent media outlets like The New York Times and The Washington Post to generate news articles using AI technology. The industry as a whole is actively looking for ways to embrace AI’s potential to enhance journalism and engage audiences.
Axel Springer’s collaboration with OpenAI promises to open up exciting opportunities for AI-powered journalism. Through this partnership, readers will have access to concise and reliable news summaries, while Axel Springer and OpenAI jointly spearhead advancements in large language models’ training.
The agreement between Axel Springer and OpenAI signifies a major step forward in the fusion of technology and journalism, paving the way for potential advancements that could redefine the way news is consumed and interpreted in the digital era.