Associated Press To Offer Buy Outs

The Associated Press said on Monday it would lay off about 8% of its workforce as it looks to modernize its operations and products.

Reuters reports the news publisher said affected employees will be notified over the next few weeks. It will offer a voluntary separation plan to a small number of eligible staff, based on department, role and tenure.

The Associated Press has reached a tentative agreement — subject to ratification — with the News Media Guild to extend this offer to some union staff in the U.S.

Under the agreement, a maximum of 116 people in the editorial unit and five people in the technology unit would be eligible for a voluntary buyout package, News Media Guild administrator Tony Winton said in an emailed response.

Founded in 1846 as a news cooperative, the Associated Press has journalists in nearly 100 countries and in all 50 U.S. states, according to its website.

"We are taking proactive steps, including making some staff reductions, as we focus on meeting the evolving needs of our customers," AP said in a statement.

The news publisher's CEO Daisy Veerasingham said in a memo to employees that those eligible for the voluntary plan will be notified by the end of the day.

AP was among the first news organizations to sign a deal with OpenAI. It had licensed a part of its archive of news stories to the ChatGPT-maker last year, setting a precedent for similar partnerships.