NYT chairman Sulzberger says AI companies ‘strip-mine’ news sites of their intellectual property

MANILA, Philippines – Offering the opening remarks at the WAN-IFRA World News Media Congress in Marseille, France, on Monday, June 1, New York Times publisher A. G. Sulzberger slammed tech giants, specifically AI companies, for “strip-mining” the intellectual property of news organizations.

During these remarks, which was titled, “AI, Journalism and the Uncertain Future of the Public Square,” Sulzberger said “the hijacking of the public square is made possible by the original sin that animates their AI products — a brazen theft of intellectual property that has occurred at an unprecedented scale.”

He added that AI companies are “failing to embrace a core responsibility that comes with that power — to ensure the public has access to trustworthy news and information.”

While not calling tech giants and AI companies outright evil, Sulzberger did warn that AI companies are “making choices, choices that violate settled law, threaten the viability of creative work, and appear likely to cause a great deal of unnecessary harm.”

This AI disruption, he explained, overturned the existing relationships and value exchange between news organizations and tech companies, where “platforms offered publishers a way of reaching a larger audience in exchange for a large share of ad revenue. “

Now, as search engines like Google — which are now powered by AI — give users direct answers to their queries, “getting a Google user to click a link, according to industry research, is 10 times harder today than it was a decade ago.”

Sulzberger added, however, that “Google still sets the high-water mark for sending readers to publishers and we can only hope that commitment will continue.” AI competitors, he said, send referral traffic at a rate 96% lower than Google search based on a Tollbit study.

‘Stand up for your rights’

Sulzberger called on news organizations and news readers to stand up for their rights, especially in an era where news organizations are “collectively smaller and weaker than two decades ago” and the technology companies are “bigger and stronger — and far more willing to use their size and power.” 

“As we prepare, we must remind ourselves: information is valuable. Journalism is valuable,” he added.

To defend against AI companies, Sulzberger recommended the following points to consider:

• Stand up for your rights. Sulzberger says insisting that your intellectual property rights be respected comes with the responsibility that one push back when their rights aren’t respected by the AI companies. “This will take courage — and sometimes resources, which are in short supply — but the alternative path of quietly tolerating the systematic theft of your work will eventually end your ability to continue it.”
• Deal carefully. Consider the long-term viability of deals to license content as tech companies already have leverage against news organizations. “They have already taken your content and intend to use it regardless,” he said. Sulzberger added that “it’s worth asking whether the payment reflects anything close to fair value — and whether you’re retaining any meaningful say over how your work is used.”
• Push your legislators. The news industry, Sulzberger said, “needs to come together with a short list of clear, compelling asks,” such as ensuring robust protections for intellectual property are reinforced, requiring AI scraping bots to identify themselves and constrain their ability to strip websites without permission, requiring transparency so news organizations know when and how their work is used by AI, and having AI companies bear legal responsibility for the defamatory content they generate.
• Join together. AI companies have the resources to market, lobby, and persuade the public and politicians to their side. “The news industry’s only path to counteracting that influence is by working together and, just as importantly, with other creative industries. Join amicus briefs and be active in your trade associations.”

To build up resilience to AI, Sulzberger also suggested the following four points.

• Use AI the right way. Sulzberger said that “Newsrooms should create thoughtful standards for the responsible use of AI. Then they should be aggressive and creative in putting the technology to work to improve their journalism and strengthen their businesses.” He added that AI isn’t inherently bad as a technology, but the actions of the companies behind it need reforming.
• Be a destination first. While a direct relationship with the audience is a clear path to support quality journalism, Sulzberger said that news organizations “still must make new relationships where people are, which is usually a tech platform.” To deepen those relationships, however, the news-consuming audience must learn the value of directly engaging with the news organization than through a different platform.
• Focus on original reporting. “To be a destination in a world intermediated by AI, you’ll need journalism so distinctive it has its own gravity. The heart of that is original reporting. The public has no other source for this work. Neither does AI.”
• Explain why journalism matters. The news industry should make the case that original reporting is an essential ingredient in healthy societies, secure nations and strong democracies. News organizations should show how the actions of the tech giants are putting those things at risk.

Trusted news ‘more needed than ever’

Sulzberger said, “News and information that can be trusted is rarer and more needed than ever. The kind produced by teams of experienced professionals supported by rigorous processes and standards.”

“I remain convinced of the value created by quality news organizations dedicated to the hard, expensive work of original reporting — to readers, to communities, to society as a whole. And, yes, even to AI models,” he added.

The full speech is available here.– Rappler.com