Meta Partners With Reuters To Integrate AI Chat Functions

According to Cointelegraph, Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has entered a multi-year partnership with news agency Reuters to integrate artificial intelligence chat functions into its platforms. This collaboration will enable Meta’s AI chatbot to pull Reuters news to answer user questions on current events, starting October 25. The feature will be available to United States-based users through Meta’s AI assistant across Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger. With this integration, Meta’s AI can now link directly to Reuters news articles when responding to related questions. Details of the deal, including any licensing for training Meta’s large language model (LLM), known as Llama, have not been disclosed. A Meta spokesperson stated that while most people use Meta AI for creative tasks, deep dives on new topics, or how-to assistance, this partnership will help ensure a more useful experience for those seeking information on current events. This collaboration marks Meta’s first major news agreement in the AI era, highlighting the company’s attempt to keep up with broader trends in the AI development space. Meta’s shift toward integrating news with its AI chatbot diverges from its efforts to minimize news and political content across its main platforms. Following controversies in recent years, including Meta’s discontinuation of its “News Tab” and reduced emphasis on political news post-2020, the tech giant had largely distanced itself from news-focused features. However, the new AI deal hints at a potential return to news in a more controlled capacity, targeting users who seek news actively rather than passively receiving it in their feeds. Meta’s partnership with Reuters is part of a growing trend in which AI companies collaborate with established news outlets to boost credibility and mitigate legal concerns. OpenAI, the creator behind the popular ChatGPT chatbot and the LLM GPT-4, has inked multiple licensing agreements to include reliable news in its models, addressing both user demand for accurate information and publisher concerns over content use. These agreements mark a response to a shifting landscape where lawsuits, such as one involving Time and The Associated Press against OpenAI, challenge the AI industry’s use of copyrighted content. OpenAI has also partnered with the Financial Times along with international outlets to bring news to users in various languages, including French publisher Le Monde, Spanish Prisa Media, and German media giant Axel Springer.