These initiatives, developed in collaboration with Semafor, CUNY’s
Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, the Online News Association
(ONA), the GroundTruth Project, and Nota, are an attempt to underscore
the tech giant’s commitment to enhancing journalistic practices through
technology.

The projects seek to address the evolving landscape of journalism,
marked by disruptions caused by digital innovations over the past three
decades.

Microsoft’s efforts come amid a lawsuit filed by the New York Times
against the company and OpenAI for alleged copyright violations related
to the use of the newspaper’s content in training AI models like GPT-4.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella addressed the lawsuit during an interview with
NBC News saying, “I think one of the things that is going to be very,
very important is both what is the copyright protection, as well as what
is fair use, in a world where there is transformative new technology.”

Key objectives of the initiatives include establishing responsible AI
practices in news gathering, providing AI training for reporters, and
fostering sustainable journalistic business models.

One of the projects, led by Semafor, will introduce a global breaking
news feed called “Signals,” leveraging Microsoft and OpenAI tools to
offer diverse perspectives on major global events.

Additionally, CUNY’s Newmark School will host a three-month AI
Journalism Lab, ONA will conduct AI training sessions, and the
GroundTruth Project will introduce an AI work track for participating
journalists.

Nota will receive support to expand its AI tools into more newsrooms
and develop a new tech tool called PROOF to enhance content quality and
audience reach.