Anthropic Struck Its First Publisher Licensing Deal, With the AP, Before the Midterms, Adweek Reports
Anthropic signed a content and data licensing deal with the Associated Press just before the US midterm elections, letting Claude show attributed AP election updates on Election Night, two people familiar with the matter told Adweek. It is the first time Anthropic has paid a digital news publisher for content, Adweek says. Neither company has confirmed the deal, and terms were not disclosed.
Anthropic held out against paying news publishers longer than its main rivals, and an election appears to have changed that. The company struck a content and data licensing deal with the Associated Press just before the US midterms, two people familiar with the matter told Adweek's Mark Stenberg. Users who asked Claude for polling updates on Election Night got up-to-the-minute information "provided by and attributed to the Associated Press," Adweek reported.
What is known#
Adweek says the deal is the first time Anthropic has paid a digital news publisher to license its content; until Tuesday it had no such agreement with any digital publisher. Financial terms and the deal's length were not disclosed. Anthropic did not respond to Adweek, and the AP declined to comment on the record. The Verge relayed the report early on November 5.
OpenAI, by contrast, has more than a dozen licensing deals with publishers including Axel Springer, News Corp and The Atlantic, Adweek notes. The AP was also the first publisher Google and OpenAI signed with.
Why the shift#
Adweek reported in August that media executives believed Anthropic considered its use of publisher content legally permissible as fair use, and saw no need to license it. Its explanation for the change is practical: many premium publishers block AI crawlers, leaving answer engines without timely, credible reporting at moments such as election night. Adweek calls the AP an unusual partner, since most of its revenue already comes from licensing, and says the deal does not mean Anthropic has changed its strategy for good.
The timing matters for Anthropic's finances. It filed to list on Nasdaq in October, and Adweek says it is weeks from going public. It is also defending copyright suits, including one from Elvis Presley's rights holders.
Limits#
- The deal rests on two unnamed sources; Anthropic and the AP have not confirmed it.
- Adweek does not say whether the deal covers archives, training data or only live election information.
- Adweek's reading of Anthropic's motives is analysis, not a company statement.