CNN Signs Multi-Year Content Licensing Deal With Google
CNN joins more than 400 publications in Google's paid News AI pilot, which uses licensed journalism to develop AI-powered features.
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CNN has signed a multi-year content licensing agreement with Google that will allow the technology company to use expanded rights to CNN journalism in experimental artificial intelligence features.
The deal makes CNN one of the latest publishers to join Google’s News AI pilot, a licensing program under which Google pays participating news organizations for the delivery and use of content in new AI-powered products.
CNN said in an official announcement on October 15 that the agreement would give Google enhanced content rights for experimental features across its products. The companies did not disclose the financial terms or specify which CNN material would be covered.
Sam Felix, CNN’s senior vice president for strategic partnerships and business development, said the agreement would allow CNN to be “compensated for the delivery and use of our unique intellectual property in connection with AI products.”
Google said separately that more than 400 publications worldwide are now participating in the News AI pilot, which began last year. New participants include CNN, Axios, the Financial Times and Forbes, alongside local and regional publishers in the United States.
Under the program, Google said publishers are paid for providing enhanced content that can be used to develop AI features. Current experiments include article overviews on publishers’ Google News pages and customizable audio briefings. Google said the features include attribution and direct links to the original articles.
The official announcements do not say that CNN’s content will be used to train Google’s underlying AI models. Instead, both companies describe the arrangement as a licensing deal covering content use in AI-powered products and experimental features.
The agreement comes as publishers reassess their relationships with AI companies over how news content is used and how readers reach original reporting. For CNN, the deal provides a paid licensing route while retaining an explicit focus on protecting its intellectual property.
Google said its News AI program is intended to test new ways of presenting publisher content as news consumption shifts toward AI-assisted products.
