What you need to know
- Google has partnered with a renowned online news organization, the Associated Press, to help Gemini provide a feed of real-time information.
- This is an attempt to explore the benefits of AI while partnering with news ecosystems to help strengthen journalism and reduce misinformation, Google says.
- Not much information about how this partnership will play out has been divulged, but it seems likely that AP’s news content will be integrated into Gemini’s responses.
Google is trying to expand Gemini’s skill set so that the app can provide accurate and timely information for those who need it. For the first time, it has partnered with a news organization that will help deliver up-to-date news on the Gemini app.
In a Keyword announcement, Google said it has decided to collaborate with the Associated Press (AP), which will now deliver a feed of real-time information to “enhance the usefulness of results displayed in the Gemini app.”
This is a step in the right direction for people to start trusting AI-generated content and address concerns surrounding misinformation. Teaming up with a news organization would help Gemini link search results to reliable news stories.
“We are pleased Google recognizes the value of AP’s journalism as well as our commitment to nonpartisan reporting, in the development of its generative AI products,” said AP senior vice president and chief revenue officer Kristin Heitmann in the Keyword.
Google has been striving to help ease users into the idea of AI and has introduced several tools like ‘About this image’ and ‘About this page’ so that people can find out the source of their search results.
That said, not much information has been divulged about how this partnership will play out in real time. When we asked Gemini, it stated that “AP news content will be integrated into Gemini’s responses, giving users access to up-to-date information.” Gemini also stated that the initial rollout will focus on Gemini Advanced subscribers.
“AP and Google’s longstanding relationship is based on working together to provide timely, accurate news and information to global audiences,” Heitmann added.
It isn’t the first time that AP has cracked a deal with an AI platform. According to the publisher, the organization has been trying to expand its revenue stream in recent years, and in 2023, it signed a deal with OpenAI, enabling the AI company “to license AP’s archive of news stories to train future versions of its AI systems.”
Some argue that monetizing data and information to improve AI’s capabilities could take a dangerous turn in the long run. “By outsourcing their value to tech companies, news outlets may cede control over how their work is used,” Sarah Kreps, a professor and director of Cornell University’s Tech Policy Institute, told AP.
