Google has struck a deal with Skydance-owned cable network CNN that will allow the tech giant to use the channel’s original journalism to train its artificial intelligence tools.
In an announcement on Thursday, CNN said the deal “will provide enhanced content rights enabling experimental features in Google products to help explore how generative AI can further drive engaged audiences across CNN’s journalism.”
The licensing agreement is rooted in a program Google announced last December, which aims to compensate large publishers in exchange for the privilege of training artificial intelligence tools on their content.
“With this partnership we’re unlocking new pathways for audiences to access CNN’s unparalleled journalism while being compensated for the delivery and use of our unique intellectual property in connection with AI products,” Sam Fenix, the Senior Vice President of Strategic Partnerships and Business Development at CNN, said in a press release on Thursday. “Google’s innovation with generative AI has changed how people discover information and content, and now those tools will help us explore new ways to discover and engage audiences.”
CNN said the licensing deal with Google is “in line with CNN’s AI strategy that ensures the safeguarding of its intellectual property.”
“CNN actively embraces the opportunities AI creates and has multiple commercial partnerships and ongoing discussions with responsible industry players,” a spokesperson for the cable network said.
Earlier this year, CNN sued artificial intelligence developer Perplexity over its alleged use of copyrighted information to train its own large language models, the technical framework that powers artificial intelligence chatbots and similar products.
