CNN and Google Launch Multi-Year Partnership on Generative AI

CNN and Google have entered a multi-year partnership to explore how Google's generative AI products can help boost audience engagement with its journalism. The deal appears premature, as neither side has specified how CNN will use Google's AI tools to steer audiences toward its reporting. But Sam Felix, network […]

CNN and Google have entered into a multi-year partnership to help explore how Google's generative AI products can help increase engagement with its journalism.

The deal appears to be premature, as neither side has revealed exactly how CNN will incorporate Google's AI efforts to drive audiences to its journalism. But Sam Felix, the network's senior vice president of strategic partnerships and business development, said in a statement Thursday that the partnership "opens up new avenues for audiences to access CNN's unparalleled journalism, while being compensated for the delivery and use of our unique intellectual property related to AI products." RELATED STORIES Let's get physical: Key takeaways from the IRL advantage, experiencing diversity and culture Summit Ice-T on 'Law & Order: SVU's longevity and cultural impact': 'I'm on a good treadmill and I'm going to stay on it.'

"Google's innovation with generative artificial intelligence has changed the way we discover information and content, and now these tools are helping us discover new ways to discover and engage audiences," Felix said in a statement. Popular in Variety

CNN emphasized in a press release that the deal reflects its push to protect its journalism in the AI era, months after it sued Perplexity AI for copyright infringement after the two companies failed to reach a licensing agreement.

The deal is part of Google's pilot program to incorporate artificial intelligence to help increase traffic for news organizations, which includes media outlets such as Spiegel, El Pais, The Guardian, The Times of India, The Washington Examiner and The Washington Post. News organizations have highlighted how the company's AI summaries hurt their web traffic, prompting some news publishers — including Variety's parent Penske Media Corporation — to sue Google over the cuts. (Penske's lawsuit was dismissed by a federal judge last week.)