Google has launched a pioneering private program tailored exclusively for a select group of independent publishers, offering them beta access to an unreleased generative artificial intelligence platform.
According to disclosed documents, participating news organizations are expected to leverage the suite of tools in exchange for providing analytics and feedback. They are required to generate a specified volume of content over a 12-month period as part of this collaboration.
In return, publishers receive a monthly stipend, amounting to a five-figure sum annually. Moreover, they gain access to resources that facilitate the creation of content tailored to their readership without incurring any costs.
A representative from Google clarified that the primary aim of this collaboration is to explore the provision of AI-enabled tools to support journalists, particularly those from smaller publishers. The representative emphasized that speculations about the tool being used to republish content from other outlets are inaccurate.
The experimental tool has been designed responsibly to assist local publishers in producing high-quality journalism using factual content from public data sources, such as local government information offices or health authorities.
Addressing concerns, the representative asserted that these tools are not intended to and cannot replace the crucial role journalists play in reporting, creating, and fact-checking their articles.
The recently introduced beta tools empower under-resourced publishers to streamline the creation of aggregated content. Operating by indexing recently published reports from various organizations, including government agencies and neighboring news outlets, the system summarizes and compiles this information into new articles.
Among the various AI experiments Google has unveiled in the past two years, Genesis stands out as a codenamed project capable of generating entire news articles. The New York Times reported that Genesis was privately demonstrated to several publishers last summer.
Additionally, other initiatives like the Search Generative Experience and Gemini are publicly accessible, posing a potential challenge to the established commercial foundations of digital publishing.
This initiative is part of the Google News Initiative, which was launched in 2018 with the goal of providing publishers with advanced technology and training resources.
