Amazon is preparing a marketplace where content creators will be able to sell them to feed AI. Publishers will finally be able to make money on what AI is already devouring.
For years, the AI industry has been feeding on other people’s intellectual property like that one household member who wastes the fridge. Effect? Avalanche of copyright infringement lawsuits. Now Amazon (according to The Information) plans to launch a platform where publishers will be able to legally license their content to AI companies.
Amazon is not the first in this race
Interestingly, Bezos’ corporation is not the first to try this type of solution. Microsoft recently launched the Publisher Content Marketplace (PCM), promising publishers a “new revenue stream” and a “transparent economic framework.” This is a natural evolution for an industry that is desperate for legitimate sources of training data.
OpenAI has long been signing contracts with media giants – Associated Press, Vox Media, News Corp and The Atlantic. But this is not enough to stop the wave of lawsuits. Courts are still deciding whether machine processing of protected content constitutes copyright infringement, and regulators are constantly proposing new regulations. However, these are not the only problems for Sam Altman and OpenAI.
Fighting for cliques and cash
Is this the end of the era of “free lunch” for AI, or just the legalization of what goes on in the shadows? Although it is difficult to judge clearly today, Amazon wants to be an intermediary again. And he will collect the commission again.
