Announced on May 29, the partnership comes as the Times continues its legal battle against OpenAI and Microsoft over alleged copyright infringement involving the use of its journalism to train AI systems.
According to Variety, the agreement will bring The New York Times’s editorial content to various Amazon platforms, enhancing customer experiences across the tech giant’s services.
According to the companies, the collaboration aims to make the Times’s original content more accessible within Amazon products, including direct links to Times offerings, and reflects a shared commitment to delivering global news and perspectives via AI.
Under the deal, Amazon will license content from The New York Times, including NYT Cooking and The Athletic sports publication. This includes the real-time display of summaries and brief excerpts on Amazon products such as Alexa, and the use of content to train Amazon’s proprietary foundation AI models.
New York Times CEO Meredith Kopit Levien said, “This deal is consistent with our long-held principle that high-quality journalism is worth paying for. It aligns with our deliberate approach to ensuring that our work is valued appropriately, whether through commercial deals or through the enforcement of our intellectual property rights.”
The Times’s move reflects the broader, mixed response of media companies to the rise of artificial intelligence, some opting for licensing partnerships while others pursue legal action, reports UNB.
Last month, The Washington Post, owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, entered a “strategic partnership” with OpenAI.