Meta is paying publishers in Europe and the UK to improve its artificial intelligence's grasp of world events. The company confirmed new licensing agreements with France's Le Figaro, Spain's Prisa media group, and Germany's Süddeutsche Zeitung. These follow a previously reported deal with News Corp, publisher of The Wall Street Journal and The Sun.

The financial terms were not disclosed, though the News Corp pact was previously valued at as much as $50 million annually. Meta stated its AI will now link directly to these publishers' websites when surfacing news information, a move intended to drive audience traffic back to the sources.

This marks a notable shift. Meta's relationship with news organizations has been turbulent for years, characterized by short-lived initiatives like Instant Articles. The company now appears to be reinvesting in news content as it races to close a perceived gap with competing AI assistants from OpenAI and Google.

In a blog post, Meta acknowledged its AI has sometimes provided outdated or incorrect answers to current events queries. The deals aim to anchor its system in timely, licensed reporting from major outlets.

Whether this strategy delivers substantial traffic to publishers remains unclear. Industry analysts are skeptical, noting that AI-generated answers often satisfy user queries without necessitating a click to the original story. For Meta, the immediate goal is clearer: to make its AI a more reliable source for information in a globally competitive market.

Source: Engadget