Germany's Bertelsmann strikes deal with OpenAI

German media and publishing giant Bertelsmann said Wednesday that it had struck a deal with US tech firm OpenAI to use ChatGPT and to collaborate on a range of other projects.

Bertelsmann, whose businesses include major European broadcasting group RTL and publisher Penguin Random House, said using the generative AI chatbot would help improve efficiency in "everyday work".

The group said in a statement it also aimed to work with OpenAI to develop new ways to create and distribute video, audio and text.


Other projects include improving marketing at the publishing business through such steps as personalised book recommendations, and boosting search functions in the media division's streaming services.

"We want to be a media company at the cutting edge of technology," a Bertelsmann spokesperson told AFP, adding that for this it needed "partners -- and OpenAI is one of them".

It did not disclose the value of the deal, or mention the potential impact on jobs.

Major German media group Axel Springer, whose titles include top-selling tabloid Bild and daily Die Welt, has recently announced job cuts, pointing in part to the role of AI in rendering certain roles such as proofreading obsolete.

Axel Springer also struck a deal with OpenAI in 2023 under which the US tech firm will pay the German group for use of its content.

Under the deal with Bertelsmann, however, OpenAI will not have access to the German firm's archives and will not pay the media group any money.

There has been a recent flurry of tie-ups between news organisations and AI developers.

OpenAI has also already struck deals with outlets including British business daily The Financial Times and French centre-left paper Le Monde.

Last week, global news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP) and French company Mistral AI signed a deal for the start-up's chatbot to use news agency reports to respond to users' requests.

Other media groups have however launched legal challenges over copyright concerns.

The New York Times has sued OpenAI, accusing it of stealing content to train its powerful AI with copyrighted material.