Amazon, NY Times Reach Deal On AI Licensing

Amazon has agreed to pay The New York Times between $20 million and $25 million annually in a multi-year licensing deal announced in May 2025.

The agreement allows Amazon to use content from The New York Times, including its news articles, NYT Cooking recipes, and The Athletic’s sports coverage, to train its AI models and integrate into products like Alexa for real-time summaries and excerpts. 

The deal, the first AI-related licensing pact for The Times and Amazon’s first with a major publisher, represents about 1% of The Times’ 2024 revenue.

This partnership marks a shift for The Times, which sued OpenAI and Microsoft in 2023 for copyright infringement over unauthorized use of its content for AI training. The Amazon deal aligns with The Times’ principle that high-quality journalism deserves compensation, as stated by CEO Meredith Kopit Levien. It provides a new revenue stream amid strained ad revenues and could set a precedent for ethical AI-media collaborations. 

However, critics worry that AI-generated summaries may reduce direct subscriptions if they become widespread.

Amazon’s investment reflects its push to enhance AI capabilities, particularly for Alexa and its proprietary models, as it competes in the AI race. The company has also made significant AI investments, including $330 million to license technology from Adept and a $4 billion partnership with Anthropic. 

Similar deals exist in the industry, like OpenAI’s $250 million agreement with News Corp and Axel Springer’s $25–30 million pact. The Times’ deal with Amazon could pressure competitors like Google and Meta to pursue similar media partnerships.