CNN signs AI partnership with Google to license its content

CNN says agreement is in line with its artificial intelligence strategy that ‘ensures the safeguarding of its intellectual property.’

Atlanta-founded news organization CNN has partnered with tech giants to license its content across AI platforms. (Alex Brandon/AP)

By Savannah Sicurella

1 hour ago

CNN has struck a multiyear content partnership with Google to allow the tech giant to use more of its journalism and intellectual property across its artificial intelligence products, the two organizations announced Thursday.

Through the agreement, the Atlanta-founded news organization will be compensated in exchange for providing Google expanded rights to its content. Google will then use CNN’s work to develop new AI features and explore how AI tools can help CNN’s journalism reach newer and broader audiences.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, and it is unclear which Google products would use CNN’s content.

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In a press release, CNN said the agreement is in line with its AI strategy that “ensures the safeguarding of its intellectual property.” The organization said it actively embraces opportunities AI creates and that it is engaging in ongoing discussions with “responsible industry players.”

This is not the first time CNN has reached a deal with a tech giant seeking to strengthen its AI models. Late last year, Facebook parent Meta Platforms confirmed it was working with CNN, Fox News and USA Today, among other news organizations, to integrate their reporting into news-related questions on Meta’s generative AI chatbot.

Hundreds of other outlets have struck similar partnerships, which serve as a new revenue stream and allow news organizations to get their work in front of audiences as readers shift toward chatbots and AI-powered search rather than seeking news through search engines.

Media companies across the country, from Decaturish to Politico, have reported that AI-powered search tools have eroded their web traffic over the last year and a half, ranging from 20% to nearly half. This decline eats into the organizations’ profitability, lessening the resources each can devote to original reporting.

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The CNN agreement is part of Google’s new AI pilot program, which launched in December, to license content from publishers and test new AI features across Google News. Among the features are in-depth article overviews on Google News publisher pages and customizable audio briefings for listeners.

Google’s AI pilot program has partnered with 400 publications so far, including Axios, the Financial Times and The Texas Tribune, among other global outlets and regional publishers. Axios is owned by Cox Enterprises, which also owns The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

CNN’s deal comes months after the organization filed suit against Perplexity AI, alleging the software company unlawfully copied and repackaged CNN’s copyrighted work to power its web search engine without compensation or authorization. The Wall Street Journal’s parent company Dow Jones, the New York Post and Merriam-Webster have also filed lawsuits against Perplexity alleging copyright infringement.