Statement: Senators Raise Antitrust Concerns with DOJ, FTC Around New Features of Generative Artificial Intelligence

The News/Media Alliance applauds Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Tina Smith (D-MN) for sending a letter to the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that raises antitrust concerns regarding new generative artificial intelligence (AI) features that summarize or use creators' work verbatim to answer questions, posing potential risks to content creators, including journalists, which they say could hurt competition.

The letter states in part, "It is crucial that we ensure that big tech platforms do not misappropriate content from journalists and other content creators, leading to less local news reporting and credible sources of information, along with lower levels of competition, investment, innovation in the digital marketplace. … The introduction of these new generative AI features further threatens the ability of journalists and other content creators to earn compensation for their vital work."

"We thank Senators Blumenthal, Duckworth, Durbin, Hirono, Klobuchar, Smith, Warren, and Whitehouse for calling attention to the antitrust concerns with new generative AI features and the misappropriation by AI companies that is taking place that is harming news publishers," News/Media Alliance President & CEO Danielle Coffey stated. "This latest overreach by AI companies contributes to an existing problem in which, for years, tech platforms' practices in the online marketplace have prevented news publishers from monetizing their content, forcing many publishers out of business. The tech platforms have regularly introduced more and more features that keep users on their platforms without having to click through, but they have not compensated the original creators of the content they are using. Publishers must be paid fairly for the use of their content, and AI companies that do not seek proper authorization or pay creators for their content must be held accountable."

The letter also raises concerns about content creators, including news organizations, having to compete with their own content when generative AI tools that have taken their original content serve up that content on their platform instead of sending users to the original source.

Coffey continued, "If there is no quality content left because the tech platforms have pushed them all out, then AI models will train on inaccurate information and garbage. We must recognize the long-term ramifications of new technology on competition and work proactively to head off these scenarios, ensuring we maximize the benefits of new technologies while minimizing harms to creators."

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