Public, fresh content earns from AI through grounding licences paid on use, a different deal from a training licence
Where AI buyers pay for content that is published or kept current, the deals are for answering live questions, not for training: Microsoft's Publisher Content Marketplace says "publishers will be paid on delivered value" and "AI builders discover and license content for specific grounding scenarios", and Meta's deals with USA Today, People Inc, CNN, Fox News and others let it provide "real-time" news "by linking to articles and websites from the publishers" (terms not disclosed). The Amazon licence with The New York Times is held (amazon-nyt-annual).
Dated 3 Feb 2026Source checked 22 Oct 2026Quote found on its page again 27 Oct 2026Basis: indicative
“The result is a direct value exchange: publishers will be paid on delivered value, and AI builders gain scalable access to licensed premium content that improves their products. Publishers define licensing and usage terms, while AI builders discover and license content for specific grounding scenarios.”
Microsoft Advertising blog: Building toward a sustainable content economy for the agentic web (Publisher Content Marketplace), checked 3 Feb 2026
Everything read from this source (5)Archived copy, 13 Oct 2026
Reuters via BNN Bloomberg: Meta strikes multiple AI deals with news publishers (5 Dec 2025), checked 5 Dec 2025
Everything read from this source (8)Archived copy, 5 Dec 2025
- Lead with what is not on the open web: that is what the labs say they pay for
- Microsoft (Publisher Content Marketplace): where a holder can be based
- Microsoft (Publisher Content Marketplace): where a holder can be based
- Microsoft (Publisher Content Marketplace): how a holder abroad is paid
- USA Today to Meta: Commercial AI data agreement for real-time news and links in the Meta AI chatbot (one of seven announced together).
- People Inc. to Meta: Commercial AI data agreement for real-time news and links in the Meta AI chatbot (one of seven announced together).
It is shown on its own, not counted into a figure.
Cited in this guide