OpenAI and the American Journalism Project (AJP) have announced a two-year deal to help fund efforts by local outlets to experiment with artificial intelligence technology.
The deal, which includes $5 million in funding from OpenAI, will allow AJP to distribute grants to ten of its 41 portfolio organizations. Those organizations will experiment with best practices for ways local news outlets can leverage AI responsibly in their newsrooms, products, and revenue teams.
The funding will also support the creation of a new product studio within AJP that will support local news outlets as they experiment with OpenAI’s technology. The studio will also serve as a central hub to share feedback and best practices with external partners like OpenAI on what’s working and what’s not.
In addition to the $5 million grant funding, OpenAI will also provide up to $5 million worth of credits that can be used by AJP’s portfolio companies to access its tech products. Local news companies awarded credits will be encouraged to experiment with ways the technology can be leveraged across entire news organizations.
“This partnership is a recognition that we are about to enter yet another really transformative moment for our industry,” Berman said. “We need to be smart about how we are deploying these new technologies to bolster and not undermine local journalism.”
The sources for this piece include an article in Axios.