Google has arrived After working with California lawmakers to challenge a law that previously required media outlets to pay in the state to fund local news. Under the terms of the deal, Google will commit tens of millions of dollars to a foundation supporting local news and an artificial intelligence “accelerator program” in the state.
The agreement ends a months-long dispute between lawmakers and Google over the California Journalism Protection Act, a bill that would have required Google, Meta and other major platforms to pay California publishers in exchange for links to their websites. Google strongly opposed the measure, similar to laws passed in Canada and Australia.
Earlier this year, Google launched” in the state, which has removed links to local news for some users in California. The company also halted some of its spending on local news in the state.
Now, under the new agreement, Google will direct “at least $55 million” to “a nonprofit public charity based at UC Berkeley’s journalism school.” Politics . The university will distribute the fund, which includes “at least $70 million” from the state of California. Google will also commit $50 million over five years to “unspecified ‘existing journalism programs’.”
The agreement also includes funding for a “National AI Innovation Accelerator.” The details of that program are unclear, however Cal Matters Google will commit “at least $17.5 million” to the effort, which will fund AI experiments for local businesses and other organizations, including newsrooms. This aspect of the deal, which is unique to Google’s California deal, could be even more contentious because it could become more strained. current stresses between publishers and AI companies.
In Kent Walker, Alphabet’s president of global affairs, credited the “thoughtful leadership” of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and other state officials in reaching the agreement. “California lawmakers have worked with the technology and news sectors to develop a collaborative framework to accelerate artificial innovation and support local and national businesses and nonprofits,” he said. “This public-private partnership builds on a long history of working with our state’s journalism and local news ecosystem while developing a national center of excellence for AI policy.”
