Report: Microsoft to Compensate Publishers for Content Used by AI

Axios reported today that Microsoft is working on a system by which it will pay publishers to use their content for AI.

According to the publication, Microsoft will create an AI marketplace for publishers, a first among major AI providers. It’s talking with select U.S.-based publishers about a pilot program for the marketplace, with the goal of compensating them for content used by AI. If this works, it could lead to a sustainable business model for content companies in the AI era, Axios says.

This is a sharp departure from the current model, in which AI companies simply steal content from publishers, never compensate them, get sued, and then reach individual deals with specific publishers after the fact. Microsoft, notably, is being sued by The New York Times for copyright infringement along with OpenAI. But there are many other similar cases against all major AI providers, including Amazon, Anthropic, Google, Meta, Perplexity, and even Apple.

Axios reports that the Microsoft AI marketplace is called the Publisher Content Marketplace (PCM). It will launch in a pilot program with a limited set of publishers and then expand over time as it works on tools, policies, and pricing models. Microsoft Copilot will be the first buyer in the market, and the offering will “grow to include other AI products.”

“You deserve to be paid on the quality of your IP,” a Microsoft slide at a recent partner summit in Monaco noted.