Apple is reportedly looking to team up with news publishers to train its AI

Apple has been noticeably missing in the list of companies with their own generative AI product, but based on a new report by The New York Times, it's looking to change that real soon. In recent weeks, Apple has reportedly started negotiating with major publishers and news organizations to ask for permission to use their content to train the generative AI system it's developing. The company doesn't expect to get its hands on their content for free, though, and The Times says it's offering them multi-year deals worth at least $50 million for access to their news archives.

Apparently, some of the publishers it approached are concerned about the repercussions of letting Apple use their news articles throughout the years. They think a broad licensing deal for their archives could lead to legal issues along the way. The publishers are also concerned about the potential competition that may arise from Apple’s efforts.

That said, the iPhone-maker also reportedly built goodwill simply by asking them for permission and showing willingness to pay. The Times says the company’s higher-ups have been in discussion over where to get data for generative AI development for years now. Due to its commitment to privacy, they’ve been hesitating to use information collected from the internet.

Other companies with generative AIs of their own had been accused of stealing content and using it to train their products without express consent from creators and rights holders. OpenAI, for instance, is contending with several lawsuits that accuse it of using other people’s intellectual properties. One of those lawsuits was filed by novelists that include George R.R. Martin and John Grisham, while another was filed by nonfiction authors who said OpenAI and Microsoft have built a business “valued into the tens of billions of dollars by taking the combined works of humanity without permission.”