OpenAI inks licensing deal with Dotdash Meredith
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Dotdash Meredith, one of the largest digital publishers in the U.S., inked a deal with OpenAI to license its content to train OpenAI's algorithms and also work together on new AI products and provide real-time, authoritative information to ChatGPT users.
Why it matters: Dotdash is heavily reliant on advertising traffic from intent-based search queries. Generative artificial intelligence is expected to have a significant impact on publishers who rely on that type of traffic.
State of play: As part of the multiyear deal, OpenAI will display content and links attributed to Dotdash Meredith's websites in relevant responses to ChatGPT user queries, the companies announced Tuesday.
- OpenAI will also collaborate with Dotdash Meredith to create new AI products and features for its readers.
- Dotdash Meredith operates more than 40 premium publishing sites, including People, Better Homes & Gardens, Verywell, InStyle and Investopedia. That content includes real-time news, verified health and financial information, and product reviews.
Between the lines: As part of the deal, Dotdash Meredith will use OpenAI's large-language models to help improve its AI-driven ad-targeting tool called D/Cipher.
- D/Cipher allows advertisers to target consumers based on the context of content being consumed, without using personal identifiers like tracking cookies. The OpenAI deal will "supercharge" D/Cipher's targeting technology with AI, "offering more precise targeting and improved ad performance in a soon-to-be cookieless world," the companies said.
Zoom out: Dotdash Meredith CEO Neil Vogel has been vocal about the opportunities publishers are offered if they can harness AI's power, but he has been careful to draw lines around AI's use in editorial.
- "We will never have an article written by a machine," Vogel said last year.
The big picture: The media industry is currently divided on how to negotiate with AI firms, with some outlets opting to partner with AI firms and others opting to sue them.
- Dotdash Meredith's parent firm IAC was pushing to create an industry coalition to help unite big publishers in their fight for copyright protections from AI firms, but that effort ultimately collapsed due to conflicting business incentives within the industry.
- IAC warned the U.S. Copyright Office last year that unless the government protects copyrighted material from being used by generative AI, "the creation and publication of high-quality original content will wither and die."
