Apple holds talks with major publishers to train its generative AI

If there’s one phrase we kept hearing throughout the year, it’s AI (artificial intelligence). The fire ignited by OpenAI’s ChatGPT has created a whole new niche among tech majors. Subsequently, several AI-powered chatbots landed, including Google’s Bard, and the latest, X’s AI debut Grok. One tech major has been quite late to the show, and we didn’t hear much from it on the subject up until last month’s earnings call. Exactly, that’s when Tim Cook hinted about its interest in generative AI. Cupertino major was long speculated of working on this project for years, but now it is confirmed. Altogether, Apple’s R&D budget also soared to a whopping $23 billion annually. And now, more details are coming to support the previous information.

Apple approached news publishers to train its AI model

The New York Times reported Apple is approaching several major publishers and news organizations to hold talks, citing people familiar with the matter. Apple wants to use the published content to train its generative AI systems for about $50 million. It has contacted key publishers like Condé, NBC News, and IAC. For reference, Condé owns Voge and The New Yorker; and IAC owns People, The Daily Beast, Investopedia, and Brides, among others.

Although Apple lagged in the generative AI race, but it earned trust by seeking permission and offering payments for data. It has long debated using internet data due to privacy concerns, unlike competitors accused of scraping content. More importantly, OpenAI faced lawsuits from novelists and nonfiction authors, including George R.R. Martin and John Grisham, who claim their works were used without consent to build a multi-billion-dollar business. It looks like Apple’s cautious approach, though slower, prioritizes ethical data acquisition.

Nevertheless, the war on AI chatbots is real with more and more data being fed to train the systems. Big techs like Meta, Google, OpenAI, etc. have already come up with their chatbots and implemented the same in their products. Every day, it becomes more fascinating to watch each competitor strive to outdo the others.