• by Ray Schultz , June 16, 2024

A licensing agreement between Axel Springer and OpenAI is being challenged by staffers at Business Insider. 

They fear that “despite this partnership, OpenAI may be downplaying rather than elevating our works,” Business Insider union members wrote to OpenAI, according to Niemanlab.

The letter continues, “Repeated efforts by unit members have been unable to prompt ChatGPT to link directly to our scoops, even when explicitly instructed to do so.” 

This is an instance in which journalists are not protesting AI links but demanding them.   

Specifically, ChatGPT failed to link to Business Insider’s reports on probes into alleged sexual misconduct by Dave Portnoy, owner of Barstool Sports. 

Instead, ChatGPT linked to aggregations of the stories by The Independent and Yahoo News, NiemanLab writes. 

When announcing the deal with OpenAI, Axel Springer wrote, “With this partnership, ChatGPT users around the world will receive summaries of selected global news content from Axel Springer’s media brands including POLITICO, BUSINESS INSIDER, and European properties BILD and WELT, including otherwise paid content. ChatGPT’s answers to user queries will include attribution and links to the full articles for transparency and further information.”

The deal with OpenAI is said to be worth tens of millions of euros to Axel Springer.