Amazon Agrees to Pay NY Times $20M-$25M/Year for AI Licensing Deal

Amazon to pay NY Times $20M-$25M/year to license AI content. Google rolls out age assurance measures to protect young users. Meta approaches Thinking Machines Lab researchers to join its superintelligence lab with offers over $1B. Cerebras Systems, a startup developing AI chips, is in talks to raise up to $1B in private funding.

In a significant move that underscores the growing importance of artificial intelligence (AI) in the media and technology sectors, Amazon has agreed to pay The New York Times up to $25 million annually for AI content licensing. This deal, announced in May 2025 with financial details recently revealed, marks a pivotal moment in the evolving landscape of AI-media partnerships [1]. The agreement grants Amazon access to a wide range of New York Times content, including material from the core news site, NYT Cooking, and The Athletic. Amazon plans to utilize this content to train its proprietary AI models, power AI-driven features like Alexa responses, and display real-time summaries of Times articles within its products and services [1].

Meanwhile, Google has rolled out an innovative age assurance feature designed to protect young users. Starting in August 2025, Google will use machine learning to estimate users' ages, overriding self-reported data. This technology will analyze behavior such as search queries and video consumption on YouTube to determine if a user is under 18. When a user is flagged as likely to be under the age of 18, the system will notify the user and automatically implement guardrails across Google's products, including disabling ad personalization and restricting age-sensitive ad categories [2]. This move follows a February announcement from YouTube CEO Neal Mohan about expanding advertising protections for minors using machine learning and comes just months after Meta introduced a similar product to Instagram [2].

Additionally, Meta has approached Thinking Machines Lab researchers to join its superintelligence lab, offering compensation over $1 billion. This initiative underscores Meta's commitment to advancing AI capabilities and reflects the growing competition in the AI research space [3]. Meanwhile, Cerebras Systems, a startup developing AI chips, is in talks to raise up to $1 billion in private funding, signaling investor confidence in the company's innovative technology [3].

These developments highlight the increasing integration of AI in various sectors and the strategic partnerships that are driving innovation. As AI continues to reshape the media landscape, these landmark deals and technological advancements may set new precedents and shape the future of content creation, advertising, and user protection.

References:
[1] https://theoutpost.ai/news-story/amazon-s-25-million-ai-licensing-deal-with-the-new-york-times-a-new-chapter-in-ai-media-partnerships-18451/
[2] https://www.adweek.com/media/google-will-use-machine-learning-to-estimate-users-age-and-block-them-from-restricted-content-and-ads/
[3] https://www.ynetnews.com/business/article/rki6auwvlx