Rupert Murdoch emphasized News Corp. has an unwavering focus on navigating the evolving landscape shaped by advanced artificial intelligence tools, addressing the opportunities and challenges that arise. According to the New York Post, Speaking at the annual shareholder meeting in his new role as chairman emeritus, Murdoch disclosed ongoing negotiations with entities developing generative AI tools, aiming to provide original content for these ventures.
Highlighting the transformative impact of digital development on News Corp’s capabilities, Murdoch expressed confidence in expanding news, analysis, books, and real estate intelligence in the era of generative AI. The chairman underscored News Corp’s commitment to ensuring fair compensation for news organizations from AI tools. This commitment aligns with recent discussions on the substantial payments, estimated at over $14 billion annually, that major players like Google and Meta should make to news outlets for search ad revenue.
CEO Robert Thomson emphasized News Corp’s decade-long advocacy for content compensation from digital platforms, entering a new phase of negotiations with the advent of Generative AI. He reassured that negotiations prioritize preserving creativity, avoiding any negative impact on content quality.
As AI tools gain prominence, scrutiny intensifies for Big Tech giants like Meta and Google, already facing pressure to compensate news outlets. Australia’s 2021 law mandating tech firms to negotiate content deals with publishers set a precedent, and News Corp’s landmark deal with Google reinforced the significance of compensating for content.
Thomson, while acknowledging signs of bias in AI, particularly in OpenAI’s ChatGPT, cautioned against the potential undermining of journalism by the rise of AI. He voiced concerns over using News Corp. or its intellectual property to train AI models, emphasizing the need to prevent the unwarranted harvesting and scraping of their brands’ intellectual assets.
