Google, California Agree to Five-Year Deal on Journalism and AI Research

The Facts

• Google and California lawmakers announced on Thursday that they had reached a five-year deal worth nearly $250M to support local journalism and artificial intelligence (AI) research.[1][2]
• Approximately $110M will be provided by Google as well as $70M by California's state budget to fund journalism programs, while Google has also committed a further $70M towards an AI research program. The deal is to begin in 2025 and will see $100M in funding in its first year.[3]
• The agreement means that previously ongoing bills in California's state legislature attempting to charge social media and technology companies in order to fund local media will now be shelved.[4][5]
• While AB 866, the California Journalism Preservation Act, required online platforms to either pay a set annual compensation fee or participate in an arbitration process to fund digital journalists, SB 1327 mandated a 7.25% tax on advertisement data deals in excess of $2.5B.[6][7]
• A press release by (Democratic) California Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, who had authored one of the bills, described the deal as a "first-in-the-nation partnership," noting that the US had lost two-thirds of newspaper journalists since 2005.[8]

Sources

[1]New York Post [2]CNN [3]Associated Press [4]Raw Story [5]National Review [6]Legislature (a) [7]Legislature (b) [8]Asmdc

The Spin

Narrative A

This is a win for all parties involved. The previous draft bills threatened Google and other digital platforms with unfair taxation backed by lobbyists of big media conglomerates for merely connecting Californians to their online news outlets of choice. This pact between Google and California is a historic partnership aimed at supporting the local media ecosystem through philanthropy and innovation.

Editorandpublisher

Narrative B

Instead of remaining committed to the fight against Big Tech and its grip on the internet's information environment, California has sold out to the very monopoly that the draft legislation sought to hold accountable. Through this deal, local media is now more reliant than ever on Google for its survival, with Gov. Newsom and his supporters choosing to side with Silicon Valley over independent journalism from the safety of smoke-filled rooms.

Ojai Valley News

Sfchronicle