Publishers Embrace AI Deals

Academic publishers are strategically pivoting towards artificial intelligence licensing agreements amidst looming US research funding reductions. Companies like Taylor & Francis, Bloomsbury Publishing, and John Wiley & Sons are securing deals with tech giants such as Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, and Perplexity to offset potential financial setbacks. Taylor & Francis, for instance, has signed a $10 million agreement with Microsoft, granting access to its extensive academic content for AI training purposes. This move aims to mitigate the impact of potential subscription revenue losses, which could reach up to 11%.

These partnerships enable publishers to monetise their vast copyrighted text libraries, creating new revenue streams. The trend mirrors similar actions in the music and news industries, where companies seek compensation for AI training data usage. While these deals offer financial benefits, they also raise questions about intellectual property rights and fair compensation for authors and peer reviewers. The deals also come at a time when the UK government is investing heavily in AI infrastructure, highlighting the global importance of AI development.