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While Suing OpenAI, The New York Times Signs AI Deal with Amazon

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In a move that could reshape how journalism is used in artificial intelligence, The New York Times has entered into its first licensing agreement with Amazon. The deal allows Amazon to use the Times’ content, including news articles, recipes from NYT Cooking, and sports coverage from The Athletic, across its AI platforms and consumer services.

“This broadens the companies’ existing relationship, and will bring additional value to Amazon customers and bring Times journalism to wider audiences,” the Times said in a statement on Thursday.

The multi-year agreement allows Amazon to display Times content in summary and excerpt formats, within services like Alexa. It also allows Amazon to use that material to train its proprietary generative AI models, a key part of the company’s growing efforts to compete in the fast-developing AI space.

Though the companies did not reveal the financial terms, they confirmed that content will be integrated into a variety of Amazon experiences. Amazon declined to comment further.

Wirecutter Left Out of the Deal

Notably, the licensing agreement excludes one major part of the Times’ digital empire: Wirecutter, the newspaper’s product review site. That omission appears intentional. Wirecutter already maintains a separate commercial relationship with Amazon, likely involving affiliate links that generate commissions on product recommendations.

NYT’s Legal Fight with OpenAI Still Ongoing

While the Times just inked a major AI content deal, it continues to fight another tech giant in court. In 2023, the paper sued OpenAI and Microsoft for using its articles without permission to train their AI tools (a lawsuit that could have major implications for the industry).

The Times accuses OpenAI of feeding millions of its articles into ChatGPT, which launched in 2022. Since its debut, ChatGPT has drawn criticism from authors and publishers alike for scraping copyrighted text without compensation. The Times’ lawsuit argues that AI-generated answers often mimic journalism so closely that they compete directly with original reporting, raising serious concerns about reader trust and advertising revenue.

OpenAI and Microsoft have both denied wrongdoing, but the case remains active.

A Strategic Shift in the Media’s Approach to AI

The Times’ deal with Amazon signals a larger shift among media companies: from battling AI developers in court to striking licensing partnerships that offer compensation and control. Other publishers have already signed similar agreements with OpenAI, Google’s parent company Alphabet, and Perplexity AI.

“This kind of collaboration shows that content creators and tech companies don’t have to be at odds,” said one industry insider. “There’s a path forward where journalism can fuel innovation — without being exploited.”

How Amazon Will Use the Content

Amazon plans to incorporate Times journalism into Alexa’s next-generation generative AI capabilities, which will allow users to get real-time news updates, sports scores, and even cooking instructions using natural, conversational prompts. The company has been pushing to upgrade Alexa with large language model (LLM) technology to better compete with ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini.

This deal gives Amazon access to one of the world’s most trusted news sources, something it hopes will strengthen both the accuracy and value of its AI tools.

Terms Remain Private

Neither company has shared details about how the agreement is structured or what kind of compensation is involved. Whether it’s a flat licensing fee, revenue sharing, or another model remains unknown.

Still, the partnership stands out as a clear sign that the Times is willing to engage with AI platforms selectively.

A Balancing Act for the Times

The deal reflects a balancing act: while The New York Times continues to push back against unauthorized use of its content, it’s also finding ways to monetize and manage how its journalism feeds new technologies. By choosing to work with Amazon, and not OpenAI or Microsoft, the Times may be testing what responsible collaboration in the AI era can look like.

So far, the paper seems to be doing both: protecting its intellectual property through lawsuits while licensing it strategically when the terms make sense.

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