On Tuesday, Microsoft and OpenAI, in partnership with the Lenfest Institute for Journalism, unveiled an AI Collaborative and Fellowship programme designed to boost the integration of artificial intelligence in newsrooms. The initiative involves a substantial investment exceeding $10 million (approximately Rs. 84.07 crores) in direct funding and enterprise credits for proprietary software usage. This effort aims to enhance the adoption of AI technologies in journalism.
Microsoft, OpenAI to Fund News Outlets
OpenAI shared details of the fellowship programme in a blog post, emphasizing its collaboration with Microsoft and the Lenfest Institute of Journalism to assist newsrooms in innovating and achieving business sustainability through AI. Dubbed the Lenfest Institute AI Collaborative and Fellowship programme, it has already identified five news organizations to benefit from the inaugural round of funding.
The selected news outlets are Chicago Public Media, Newsday (Long Island, NY), The Minnesota Star Tribune, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and The Seattle Times. Each outlet will receive $2.5 million (around Rs. 21 crores) in direct funding and an equivalent amount in software and enterprise credits, totaling up to $10 million for the five organizations.
This initiative will span two years and involves the Lenfest Institute’s Local Independent News Coalition (LINC) along with a consortium of eight metropolitan news organizations across the United States. Throughout this duration, the participating news organizations are expected to work collaboratively, exchanging insights, product developments, case studies, and technical knowledge that could aid in replicating their successes in other newsrooms. Furthermore, an additional three news organizations will be eligible for funding in the second round of grants.
The overarching objective of the fellowship programme is to empower news outlets to harness AI for analyzing public data, developing news and visual archives, creating innovative AI tools for journalism, and more. OpenAI noted that the recipients were selected following a thorough application process.
