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GEDI signs strategic partnership with OpenAI for La Repubblica and La Stampa content

Italian publisher GEDI and OpenAI announced a partnership under which ChatGPT and the SearchGPT prototype show attributed content, links and excerpts from La Repubblica, La Stampa and other GEDI sites. No financial terms were disclosed, and Italy's data protection authority later warned GEDI about sharing personal data from its archives.

ITALY, September 26, 2024 - Italian media group GEDI and OpenAI announced a strategic partnership under which ChatGPT users will see attributed content, links and excerpts from GEDI titles including La Repubblica and La Stampa. Financial terms were not disclosed.1

Terms of the deal

Punto Informatico reported that the content covers La Repubblica, La Stampa and other online publications GEDI controls, and that it will be available in ChatGPT and in SearchGPT, the search prototype with limited availability. The outlet wrote that use of the content would begin with the training phase of OpenAI's models. GEDI expects wider international reach through ChatGPT's translation abilities.1 GEDI president John Elkann described the deal as part of GEDI's digital transformation, and OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman said it is important to work with publishers around the world.1 No price or length of term was published.

Privacy regulator warning

On November 29, 2024 Italy's data protection watchdog, the Garante, told GEDI not to share personal data from its news archives with OpenAI, saying doing so could break EU data protection rules and lead to sanctions.2 An Italian trade outlet reported that the warning followed an investigation the Garante opened in September.3 The coverage cited here did not say whether the agreement was changed, paused or cancelled.

What it means for data sellers

The case shows that a long archive of journalism is not a clean asset: it holds names and personal details of many people, and the legal basis for handing it to an AI developer has to be settled first. Sellers should document that basis and the exact permitted uses before signing.

This entry is a news summary. SellYourAIData was not involved in the deal.

How the deal came together

  1. The partnership was announced. On September 26, 2024 GEDI and OpenAI announced a strategic partnership covering La Repubblica, La Stampa and other online titles GEDI controls.
  2. ChatGPT shows attributed content. ChatGPT users would see citations, links and excerpts from GEDI publications, and the content would also feed SearchGPT, OpenAI's search prototype.
  3. Use would start with model training, per one report. Italian tech outlet Punto Informatico wrote that the chatbot's use of the content would start with the training phase of OpenAI's models.
  4. A regulator intervened. On November 29, 2024 Italy's data protection authority warned GEDI that sharing personal data from its archives with OpenAI could violate EU rules and carry sanctions.

Takeaways for companies with data

  • Archives of a news publisher contain personal data, so a licence can be challenged by a privacy regulator even when both parties agree.
  • The announcement named citations, links and excerpts for users, and a report separately tied the first use to model training, so sellers should state each permitted use in the contract.
  • No price was published for either side, which leaves Italian-language archives without a public benchmark.

Sources

Every numbered reference above points to an entry here. Figures come from these pages as of the date shown at the top of the article. Where a source reports a number it got from unnamed people, the text says so.

  1. Punto Informatico (Punto Informatico, September 2024)
  2. Italian watchdog warns publisher GEDI against sharing data with OpenAI (Teiss, November 2024)
  3. Accordo GEDI-OpenAI, altolà del Garante sulla vendita dei dati personali (Corriere Comunicazioni, November 2024)

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About the AI Data Deal Tracker

SellYourAIData tracks publicly reported sales and licenses of data to AI companies, with the price, terms and sources for each. Entries are checked against public reporting and updated as deals change. SellYourAIData was not involved in this deal. To ask what your company's data could sell for, get a free valuation. To report a deal, contact us.