OpenAI and Microsoft Launch $10M Grants to Boost AI-Powered Journalism

Microsoft and OpenAI are giving funds of up to $10 million to newspapers, such as The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Minnesota Star Tribune.

OpenAI and Microsoft are supporting efforts to introduce new AI technologies to the newsroom. A grant of up to $10 million will be given to the Minnesota Star Tribune, Newsday (on Long Island, NY), The Philadelphia Inquirer, and The Seattle Times. Each newspaper will hire an AI fellow for two years to work on projects that will help them use the technology and make their businesses more sustainable.

Both OpenAI and Microsoft are giving $2.5 million. OpenAI is giving $2.5 million directly, and Microsoft is giving $2.5 million in software and business credits. The news was shared today.

So far, the relationships between AI and media have mostly been shady or in court. The Centre for Investigative Reporting, The New York Times, The Intercept, Raw Story, and AlterNet have all sued OpenAI and Microsoft. Some newspapers said ChatGPT copied their articles, and other lawsuits were about using web content to train AI models without permission or payment. Other news organizations have chosen to negotiate, and Condé Nast was the most recent to do so with OpenAI in exchange for the rights to their material.

Aaron Chatterji has been named the first head economist at OpenAI. Chatterji is a professor at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. He has worked for President Obama on his Council of Economic Advisers and for Vice President Biden in the Commerce Department.