- Microsoft launches Publisher Content Marketplace to compensate publishers for AI use of content
- Pilot phase begins with select US publishers amid ongoing copyright disputes
- Industry tensions grow over fair pay, regulatory calls, and AI’s impact on journalism
Microsoft is preparing to launch a new platform that could reshape how publishers are compensated for their journalism in the age of AI. The Publisher Content Marketplace (PCM) will integrate with Microsoft’s Copilot assistant and pay publishers based on how their content is used within AI applications, signalling a shift toward a more formalised licensing model between tech firms and news outlets.
According to reports, Microsoft presented the plan at a Partner Summit in Monaco, telling publishers: “You deserve to be paid on the quality of your IP.” A pilot programme involving a select group of US publishers is expected soon, with a broader rollout to follow.
The initiative comes as legal disputes mount over generative AI’s use of copyrighted material. More than 200 news organisations have urged Washington to introduce rules requiring AI firms to secure consent and compensation when using journalistic content. Concerns are rising that AI-generated summaries, such as Google’s AI Overviews, keep readers on search pages and drain traffic from publisher sites.
Microsoft has long paid for licensed content on its MSN platform, but the PCM is its first attempt to build a marketplace specifically for AI. Copilot Daily, one of its latest features, already relies on licensed journalism from partners including Reuters, Axel Springer, Hearst, USA Today Network and the Financial Times. Payment terms remain undisclosed, but the move mirrors similar licensing deals by OpenAI with Condé Nast, Time, News Corp, Vox Media and the Associated Press. Google also reportedly pays News Corp up to $6 million annually for AI content rights.
For Microsoft, the PCM is both a hedge against litigation and a way to distinguish Copilot from competitors such as ChatGPT. Its success could set a precedent for wider industry standards, especially as publishers face sharp revenue pressures: global advertising is dominated by Google and Meta, while more than 21,000 journalism jobs were cut last year, with another 10,000 expected this year.
Reactions from publishers are mixed, with some questioning whether the proposed compensation will fairly reflect the value of their work. Experiences with other AI licensing deals have been patchy, with publishers complaining about broken links and inconsistent attribution.
Even so, Microsoft’s marketplace could mark a turning point. If the model works, it may force rivals to follow, creating a more sustainable system for funding journalism in an AI-driven media economy.
Source: Noah Wire Services
- https://www.newsbytesapp.com/news/science/microsoft-launches-program-to-pay-publishers-for-copilot-ai-content/story – Please view link – unable to able to access data
- https://www.axios.com/2025/09/23/microsoft-ai-marketplace-publishers – Microsoft is planning to launch a pilot program for a Publisher Content Marketplace (PCM), aimed at compensating U.S. publishers for the use of their content in AI products, starting with its Copilot assistant. This initiative would position Microsoft as the first major tech company to create a two-sided AI marketplace for publishers, an important step toward establishing a sustainable business model for media in the AI era. Unlike existing licensing deals that provide upfront payments, this marketplace may offer compensation based on content usage. The pilot will involve a limited group of publishers and reflects Microsoft’s broader strategy to strengthen ties with media companies while expanding its AI capabilities and reassessing its relationship with OpenAI. Though Copilot currently lags behind competitors like ChatGPT in traffic, this move could compel rivals such as Google to enter the AI content marketplace space.
- https://techcrunch.com/2024/10/01/microsoft-starts-paying-publishers-for-content-in-copilot/ – Microsoft is going to pay publishers for content that will appear in Copilot Daily, a new feature of its Copilot AI-powered, cross-platform assistant. Copilot Daily, announced on Tuesday alongside other Copilot upgrades, gives users a spoken summary of the weather and current events. Alexa and Google Assistant have long delivered similar daily briefs, but Microsoft describes its take as “an antidote to that familiar feeling of information overload.” “Clean, simple and easy to digest, Copilot Daily will only pull from authorized content sources,” Microsoft writes in a blog post, adding that options for reminders and customization will arrive over time. Reuters, Axel Springer, Hearst Magazines, USA Today Network, and The Financial Times are signed on for Copilot Daily, which is only available in the U.S. and U.K. at launch. Microsoft won’t reveal how much it’s paying publishers, nor the other terms of the arrangements, but the company did say it plans to add publishers and expand Copilot Daily to new countries “soon.” Microsoft has been compensating publishers for many years in the form of content-licensing deals for its MSN platform. But until now, those licensing deals didn’t cover the company’s AI products. None of the Copilot Daily publisher partners responded to TechCrunch’s request for comment as of publication time. The partnerships come at a time when some AI vendors, including OpenAI, Perplexity, and even Apple, embrace payment deals partly to shield against claims that their AI tools infringe on copyrighted works. (Microsoft itself is involved in a lawsuit that alleges it used millions of New York Times articles to train chatbots that now compete with the organization.) Many of the deals give AI vendors sorely needed data to train their models. Perplexity recently began sharing ad revenue with publishers when its AI-powered search tool surfaces their articles in response to a query. OpenAI, meanwhile, is licensing content from publishers, including Condé Nast, Time, News Corp, Vox Media and the Associated Press. Some publishers, writers, and unions have criticized the structure of these deals, saying they undervalue journalism. For context, OpenAI’s lower-end checks reportedly range from $1 million to $5 million annually. Others have noted their poor execution; as of June, OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot was producing links to news partners’ stories that didn’t work. But the news sector is desperate for a break. The industry could be on track to shed 10,000 jobs this year, per Fast Company. That’d be an improvement from last year, which saw over 21,400 journalism jobs eliminated, but it’s hardly a sunny outlook. Many factors are contributing to the decline, from slow-growing ad budgets to inflation (which is hurting subscriptions). The struggle to find a sustainable business model hasn’t been helped by Big Tech, either — their search and feed algorithm changes, in addition to AI-generated search overviews, have reduced traffic to news sites. Pundits argue that tech has also trained people to expect free content — nearly half of all U.S. residents get their news from social media — and captured an increasing share of ad dollars at the expense of publishers. Approximately 60% of global ad spend is now funneled toward Big Tech companies, including Google and Meta. One study found that broadcasters lose nearly $2 billion in ad revenue annually to Google’s and Meta’s platforms.
- https://www.cnbc.com/2024/04/30/eight-newspaper-publishers-sue-openai-over-copyright-infringement.html – Eight U.S. newspaper publishers filed suit against Microsoft and OpenAI in a New York federal court on Tuesday, claiming the technology companies reuse their articles without permission in generative artificial intelligence products and incorrectly attribute inaccurate information to them. The group of eight newspaper publishers takes issue with ChatGPT and Microsoft’s Copilot assistant — available in the Windows operating system, the Bing search engine, and other products the software maker produces. ChatGPT and Copilot have been “purloining millions of the publishers’ copyrighted articles without permission and without payment,” according to the complaint, which had been filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The newspaper publishers in the lawsuit operate the New York Daily News, the Chicago Tribune, the Orlando Sentinel, the Sun Sentinel in Florida, The Mercury News in California, The Denver Post, the Orange County Register in California and the Pioneer Press of Minnesota. All fall under the ownership of hedge fund Alden Global Capital. “We take great care in our products and design process to support news organizations,” an OpenAI spokesperson said in a statement. “While we were not previously aware of Alden Global Capital’s concerns, we are actively engaged in constructive partnerships and conversations with many news organizations around the world to explore opportunities, discuss any concerns, and provide solutions.
- https://www.reuters.com/technology/sam-altmans-openai-signs-content-agreement-with-news-corp-2024-05-22/ – Sam Altman-led OpenAI has signed a deal that will give it access to content from some of the biggest news publications owned by media conglomerate News Corp (NWSA.O), the companies said on Wednesday. The deal comes weeks after the Microsoft-backed (MSFT … . Access to troves of data can … . Such partnerships are also crucial for the … . OpenAI, which kickstarted the … . OpenAI did not disclose the financial … . The tie-up also includes a guarantee … . The agreement will give OpenAI access … . News Corp shares climbed about 4 … .
- https://www.reuters.com/technology/google-pay-up-6-mln-news-corp-new-ai-content-information-reports-2024-04-30/ – Alphabet-owned (GOOGL.O) Google has agreed to pay News Corp (NWSA … owner of the Wall Street Journal, between $5 million and $6 million annually to develop new AI-related content and … . The new arrangement is part of a … . “We absolutely do not have an AI … ,” a News Corp spokesperson told Reuters. Google did not immediately respond to Reuters … . AI firms are looking to partner with … . Similar deals include that between OpenAI … .
- https://www.exchangewire.com/blog/2024/10/02/bing-introduces-ai-powered-overviews-microsoft-to-pay-publishers-for-content-used-by-copilot-daily/ – Following in the footsteps of Google, Microsoft Bing has launched Bing Generative Search, its equivalent of Google’s AI Overviews. Following a pilot of the programme in July, the feature started rolling out to all US users on Tuesday. Like Google’s version, Bing Generative Search uses AI to aggregate information from the web and generate helpful responses to searches, including links to sources. Currently, the easiest way to bring up the feature is by searching “Bing Generative Search” on the search engine, although Microsoft will be introducing a way to trigger it more easily. Next, more news from Microsoft: it has announced it will start paying publishers for content that appears in Copilot Daily, a new feature of its AI assistant, Copilot. The new feature, also announced on Tuesday, pulls insights from “authorised” content sources to provide users with a spoken summary of current events, including the weather. Publishers signed up to Copilot Daily include The Financial Times, Reuters and Alex Springer. It’s yet to be revealed how much publishers are being paid. Currently, the Copilot Daily feature is only available in the UK and US but Microsoft expects to introduce it in more countries soon. Copilot has also undergone a transformation, with new voice and vision capabilities added to increase personalisation for users.
Noah Fact Check Pro
The draft above was created using the information available at the time the story first
emerged. We’ve since applied our fact-checking process to the final narrative, based on the criteria listed
below. The results are intended to help you assess the credibility of the piece and highlight any areas that may
warrant further investigation.
Freshness check
Score:
9
Notes:
The narrative is fresh, with the earliest known publication date being September 23, 2025. The concept of compensating publishers for AI content use has been previously reported, but this specific initiative is newly announced. The report is based on a press release, which typically warrants a high freshness score. No discrepancies in figures, dates, or quotes were found. No earlier versions of this narrative appeared more than 7 days earlier. The article includes updated data but recycles older material, which may justify a higher freshness score but should still be flagged.
Quotes check
Score:
10
Notes:
The direct quote, “You deserve to be paid on the quality of your IP,” attributed to Microsoft at an exclusive Partner Summit in Monaco, appears to be original and exclusive content. No identical quotes were found in earlier material, and no variations in wording were noted.
Source reliability
Score:
7
Notes:
The narrative originates from NewsBytesApp, which is not a widely recognised or reputable organisation. This raises concerns about the reliability of the information presented. The report mentions discussions with select U.S. publishers for a pilot phase of the Publisher Content Marketplace, but specific details remain under wraps, including an official launch date. The lack of verifiable sources and the obscurity of the originating organisation contribute to the uncertainty of the report’s reliability.
Plausability check
Score:
8
Notes:
The claim that Microsoft is developing a platform called the Publisher Content Marketplace (PCM) to compensate publishers for content used in AI applications aligns with Microsoft’s previous initiatives, such as paying publishers for content surfaced by Copilot Daily. However, the lack of supporting detail from other reputable outlets and the absence of specific factual anchors, such as names, institutions, and dates, reduce the plausibility score. The language and tone are consistent with typical corporate communications, and there is no excessive or off-topic detail unrelated to the claim.
Overall assessment
Verdict (FAIL, OPEN, PASS): FAIL
Confidence (LOW, MEDIUM, HIGH): MEDIUM
Summary:
The narrative presents a plausible claim about Microsoft’s initiative to compensate publishers for AI content use, supported by a direct quote from a Microsoft Partner Summit. However, the report originates from a less reputable source, lacks supporting details from other reputable outlets, and includes recycled material, raising concerns about its reliability and originality. These factors contribute to a ‘FAIL’ verdict with medium confidence.
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