According to Adweek’s study of public financial documents, OpenAI pays Dotdash Meredith at least $16 million per year to license its material. We were already aware of this expanding connection, but we did not have a cash figure. Now we do.
The actual payoff could exceed $16 million per year, as it only includes the “fixed” component of the payment. According to a recent earnings call hosted by the chief operating and financial officer of Dotdash Meredith’s parent company, IAC, the “variable” component will be computed later.
“Looking at the third quarter of 2024, license revenue increased by nearly $4.1 million year over year. “The OpenAI license would drive the majority of that,” stated CFO Chris Halpin. “So, every quarter, that is a decent proxy for the revenue we recognize. The variable components will then be calculated and identified in the future.
Dotdash Meredith will license its content to OpenAI to train ChatGPT, but the publisher will also utilize the AI company’s models to improve its ad-targeting tool. As part of this agreement, ChatGPT will display information and links associated with the many Dotdash Meredith publications.
Food & Wine, InStyle, Better Homes & Gardens, Lifewire, and Investopedia are among the publications you are likely to be familiar with. Dotdash Meredith also owns and produces the eco-friendly website Treehugger, and we all know how beneficial AI is to the environment.
As a side aside, I’ve written for other Dotdash Meredith publications throughout the years. Can a humble copywriter please have a taste of that $16 million? Never mind. Huge payments are for overpaid executives, not the folks who create the things that consumers click on. Silly me.
On the plus side, OpenAI now pays some companies to use their content. Everyone from The New York Times to comedians like Sarah Silverman have sued the corporation, alleging that it used content without permission or payment.
Dotdash Meredith is the latest publisher to donate its content to AI businesses in order to contribute to our lovely shared future in which no one creates anything other than pithy statements on social networking platforms. The Financial Times had a similar deal with OpenAI. HarperCollins is also getting in on the action.
