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Lenfest Institute, OpenAI and Microsoft announce $10 million AI Collaborative and Fellowship program for US metro news organizations

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The Lenfest Institute for Journalism has announced a $10 million AI Collaborative and Fellowship program in partnership with OpenAI and Microsoft Corp. The initiative aims to help US metro news organizations explore and implement AI technologies to drive business sustainability and innovation in local journalism.

Five news organizations - Chicago Public Media, The Minnesota Star Tribune, Newsday, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and The Seattle Times - will receive grants to hire two-year AI fellows and obtain OpenAI and Microsoft Azure credits. The fellows will work on projects focusing on AI applications in public data analysis, archive utilization, audience engagement, and new AI-based news tools.

OpenAI and Microsoft are each contributing $2.5 million in direct funding and $2.5 million in software and enterprise credits. The two-year pilot program is part of The Lenfest Institute's Local Independent News Coalition (LINC), which includes eight of the largest independently owned metropolitan news organizations in the US.

Il Lenfest Institute for Journalism ha annunciato un programma di collaborazione e borse di studio AI da 10 milioni di dollari in partnership con OpenAI e Microsoft Corp. L'iniziativa mira ad aiutare le organizzazioni di notizie metropolitane degli Stati Uniti a esplorare e implementare tecnologie AI per promuovere la sostenibilità aziendale e l'innovazione nel giornalismo locale.

Cinque organizzazioni giornalistiche - Chicago Public Media, The Minnesota Star Tribune, Newsday, The Philadelphia Inquirer e The Seattle Times - riceveranno sovvenzioni per assumere borsisti AI per due anni e ottenere crediti da OpenAI e Microsoft Azure. I borsisti lavoreranno su progetti focalizzati su applicazioni AI nell'analisi dei dati pubblici, utilizzo degli archivi, coinvolgimento del pubblico e nuovi strumenti di notizie basati sull'AI.

OpenAI e Microsoft stanno contribuendo con 2,5 milioni di dollari in finanziamenti diretti e 2,5 milioni di dollari in crediti per software e imprese. Il programma pilota di due anni fa parte della Coalizione per le Notizie Locali Indipendenti (LINC) del Lenfest Institute, che include otto delle maggiori organizzazioni di notizie metropolitane indipendenti negli Stati Uniti.

El Lenfest Institute for Journalism ha anunciado un programa de colaboración y becas de IA de 10 millones de dólares en asociación con OpenAI y Microsoft Corp. La iniciativa tiene como objetivo ayudar a las organizaciones de noticias metropolitanas de EE. UU. a explorar e implementar tecnologías de IA para impulsar la sostenibilidad empresarial y la innovación en el periodismo local.

Cinco organizaciones de noticias - Chicago Public Media, The Minnesota Star Tribune, Newsday, The Philadelphia Inquirer y The Seattle Times - recibirán subvenciones para contratar becarios de IA durante dos años y obtener créditos de OpenAI y Microsoft Azure. Los becarios trabajarán en proyectos centrados en aplicaciones de IA en el análisis de datos públicos, utilización de archivos, compromiso del público y nuevas herramientas de noticias basadas en IA.

OpenAI y Microsoft están contribuyendo con 2,5 millones de dólares en financiamiento directo y 2,5 millones de dólares en créditos de software y empresas. El programa piloto de dos años es parte de la Coalición de Noticias Locales Independientes (LINC) del Lenfest Institute, que incluye ocho de las organizaciones de noticias metropolitanas independientes más grandes de EE. UU.

렌페스트 저널리즘 연구소는 OpenAI와 Microsoft Corp.와 협력하여 1천만 달러 규모의 AI 협업 및 펠로우쉽 프로그램을 발표했습니다. 이 이니셔티브는 미국의 대도시 뉴스 조직들이 AI 기술을 탐색하고 구현하여 지역 저널리즘에서 비즈니스 지속 가능성과 혁신을 촉진하는 데 도움을 주는 것을 목표로 합니다.

다섯 개의 뉴스 조직 - 시카고 공영 미디어, 미네소타 스타 트리뷴, 뉴스데이, 필라델피아 인콰이어러, 시애틀 타임스 -가 두 년 동안 AI 펠로우를 고용하고 OpenAI 및 Microsoft Azure 크레딧을 얻기 위해 보조금을 받을 것입니다. 펠로우들은 공공 데이터 분석, 아카이브 활용, 관객 참여 및 새로운 AI 기반 뉴스 도구에 중점을 둔 프로젝트에서 작업할 것입니다.

OpenAI와 Microsoft는 각각 250만 달러의 직접 자금과 250만 달러의 소프트웨어 및 기업 크레딧를 기여하고 있습니다. 이 두 년 기간의 파일럿 프로그램은 Lenfest Institute의 지역 독립 뉴스 연합(LINC)의 일부로, 미국에서 가장 큰 독립적인 대도시 뉴스 조직 8곳을 포함합니다.

L'Institut Lenfest pour le journalisme a annoncé un programme de collaboration et de bourses d'études en IA de 10 millions de dollars en partenariat avec OpenAI et Microsoft Corp. L'initiative vise à aider les organisations d'information métropolitaines américaines à explorer et à mettre en œuvre des technologies IA pour favoriser la durabilité des entreprises et l'innovation dans le journalisme local.

Cinq organisations de nouvelles - Chicago Public Media, The Minnesota Star Tribune, Newsday, The Philadelphia Inquirer et The Seattle Times - recevront des subventions pour embaucher des boursiers AI pour une durée de deux ans et obtenir des crédits OpenAI et Microsoft Azure. Les boursiers travailleront sur des projets axés sur les applications d'IA dans l'analyse des données publiques, l'utilisation des archives, l'engagement du public et de nouveaux outils d'information basés sur l'IA.

OpenAI et Microsoft apportent chacun 2,5 millions de dollars en financement direct et 2,5 millions de dollars en crédits logiciels et d'entreprise. Le programme pilote de deux ans fait partie de la Local Independent News Coalition (LINC) de l'Institut Lenfest, qui comprend huit des plus grandes organisations d'information métropolitaines indépendantes aux États-Unis.

Das Lenfest Institute for Journalism hat ein 10-Millionen-Dollar AI-Kollaborations- und Stipendienprogramm in Partnerschaft mit OpenAI und Microsoft Corp. angekündigt. Die Initiative zielt darauf ab, US-Metro-Nachrichtenorganisationen dabei zu helfen, KI-Technologien zu erkunden und einzuführen, um die Unternehmensnachhaltigkeit und Innovation im lokalen Journalismus voranzutreiben.

Fünf Nachrichtenorganisationen - Chicago Public Media, The Minnesota Star Tribune, Newsday, The Philadelphia Inquirer und The Seattle Times - erhalten Zuschüsse, um zweijährige KI-Stipendiaten einzustellen und Credits von OpenAI und Microsoft Azure zu erhalten. Die Stipendiaten werden an Projekten arbeiten, die sich auf KI-Anwendungen in der öffentlichen Datenanalyse, die Nutzung von Archiven, das Publikum engagement und neue KI-basierte Nachrichtenwerkzeuge konzentrieren.

OpenAI und Microsoft tragen jeweils 2,5 Millionen Dollar in direkter Finanzierung und 2,5 Millionen Dollar in Software- und Unternehmenscredits bei. Das zweijährige Pilotprogramm ist Teil der Local Independent News Coalition (LINC) des Lenfest Institute, die acht der größten unabhängigen städtischen Nachrichtenorganisationen in den USA umfasst.

Positive
  • $10 million funding for AI implementation in local journalism
  • Collaboration with major tech companies OpenAI and Microsoft
  • Potential for improved business sustainability and innovation in local news organizations
  • Access to advanced AI technologies and enterprise credits for participating news outlets
Negative
  • None.

Insights

This collaboration between Lenfest Institute, OpenAI and Microsoft marks a significant step in integrating AI into local journalism. The $10 million investment, split equally between funding and software credits, demonstrates a serious commitment to innovation in this sector.

The program's focus on business sustainability is crucial. By leveraging AI for tasks like data analysis, archive utilization and audience engagement, these news organizations can potentially reduce costs and create new revenue streams. This could be a game-changer for local news, which has been struggling financially for years.

The collaborative nature of the program, with participants sharing learnings and developments, could accelerate AI adoption across the industry. However, it's important to note that while AI can enhance journalism, it won't replace human reporters. The challenge will be in finding the right balance between AI assistance and maintaining journalistic integrity and quality.

For Microsoft, this initiative aligns with their broader AI strategy and could provide valuable insights for refining their AI tools for media applications. It also positions them as a key player in the future of journalism, potentially leading to long-term partnerships and product opportunities in this sector.

This initiative represents a significant shift in how local news organizations approach technology and innovation. By providing both funding and AI tools, it addresses two major hurdles: financial constraints and technological expertise.

The selection of diverse projects - from transcription and translation at Chicago Public Media to advertising support at The Seattle Times - showcases the wide-ranging potential of AI in journalism. This diversity could lead to a variety of new business models and revenue streams for the industry.

The involvement of major tech companies like OpenAI and Microsoft lends credibility and resources to these experiments. However, it also raises questions about potential dependencies and the long-term implications for journalistic independence.

The focus on sharing learnings industry-wide is particularly promising. If successful, this could lead to a more rapid and widespread adoption of AI tools in newsrooms across the country, potentially revitalizing local journalism. However, the success will largely depend on how effectively these organizations can implement AI while maintaining editorial standards and public trust.

Chicago Public Media, The Minnesota Star Tribune, Newsday (Long Island, New York), The Philadelphia Inquirer, and The Seattle Times will receive grant funding and enterprise credits for experimentation with generative AI

PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 22, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Lenfest Institute for Journalism, a leader in developing solutions for the next era of local news, on Tuesday announced a major new collaboration with OpenAI and Microsoft Corp. to help newsrooms explore and implement ways in which artificial intelligence can help drive business sustainability and innovation in local journalism through the Lenfest Institute AI Collaborative and Fellowship program. 

In the initial round of funding, Chicago Public Media, Newsday (Long Island, NY), The Minnesota Star Tribune, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and The Seattle Times will each receive a grant to hire a two-year AI fellow to pursue projects that focus largely on improving business sustainability and implementing AI technologies within their organizations. The fellowship will also provide OpenAI and Microsoft Azure credits to help these publications experiment and develop tools to assist with local news. As part of the program, the news organizations will work collaboratively with each other and the broader news industry to share learnings, product developments, case studies and technical information needed to help replicate their work in other newsrooms. An additional three organizations will be awarded fellows in a second round of grants. 

"We are pleased to be working with both OpenAI and Microsoft on this important initiative to support local news," said Jim Friedlich, executive director and CEO of The Lenfest Institute. "Through these fellowships — and by sharing results with the broader news industry — we will help empower local newsrooms to explore, implement and advocate for AI business solutions that uphold the highest ethical standards while strengthening their future prospects. The Lenfest Institute and OpenAI incubated the fellowship program, which is designed to promote the use of AI in creating a sustainable future for independent local journalism, and we welcome its expansion in scope and resources with Microsoft's commitment." 

The first slate of AI Collaborative and Fellows members will work on projects that focus on the use of AI for analysis of public data, to better utilize news and visual archives, to build audience engagement, for creating new AI-based news tools and products, and more. The projects were chosen through an application process led by The Lenfest Institute with assistance from FT Strategies, a global media consultant, and Nota, a provider of AI tools for journalism. 

"While nothing will replace the central role of reporters, we believe that AI technology can help in the research, investigation, distribution and monetization of important journalism. We're deeply invested in supporting smaller, independent publishers through initiatives like The Lenfest Institute AI Collaborative and Fellowship, ensuring they have access to the same cutting-edge tools and opportunities as larger organizations," said Tom Rubin, chief of Intellectual Property and Content, OpenAI. "Local news is a particularly vulnerable area of journalism, and we believe AI can help it thrive."

The selected projects are:  

  • Chicago Public Media, which publishes The Chicago Sun-Times and runs public radio station WBEZ, will focus on leveraging AI for transcription, summarization and translation to expand content offerings and reach new audiences.
  • The Minnesota Star Tribune will experiment with AI summarization, analysis and content discovery for both its journalists and readers.
  • Newsday will build AI public data summarization and aggregation tools for its newsroom, for readers and for businesses as a marketing services offering.
  • The Philadelphia Inquirer will use AI platforms to build a conversational search interface for its archives. It will also leverage AI to monitor and analyze media produced by local municipalities and agencies.
  • The Seattle Times will use AI platforms to assist in advertising go-to-market, sales training support, and other sales analytics before rolling out learnings to other business functions and departments.

"We need local journalism to inform and educate citizens, expose wrongdoing, and encourage civic engagement. We will work with the Lenfest AI Fellowship to drive AI innovation that can help news organizations create new products to extend their reporting, find new sources of revenue, and ultimately build a more sustainable future," said Teresa Hutson, corporate vice president, technology for fundamental rights at Microsoft. "We hope these news organizations will be lighthouses for the industry, to provide examples of how AI can build a better future for the business of news."

To support the new Lenfest Institute AI Collaborative and Fellowship program and resources, OpenAI and Microsoft are each awarding $2.5 million in direct funding and $2.5 million in software and enterprise credits, for a total of up to $10 million. The two-year pilot program is in partnership with The Lenfest Institute's Local Independent News Coalition (LINC), a group of eight of the largest independently owned metropolitan news organizations in the United States. 

LINC is one of several Communities of Practice led by The Lenfest Institute with funding from the Institute and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. LINC includes The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Chicago Public Media (WBEZ and The Chicago Sun Times), The Dallas Morning News, Newsday (Long Island, New York), The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Seattle Times, The Minnesota Star Tribune, and The Tampa Bay Times. 

Learn more about LINC here and sign up to receive updates on the Lenfest AI Fellows experiments and lessons learned through The Lenfest Institute Solution Set newsletter.  

About The Lenfest Institute for Journalism  

The Lenfest Institute for Journalism creates solutions for the next era of local news by investing in sustainable business models at the intersection of local journalism and community in Philadelphia and nationwide. 

About OpenAI  

OpenAI is an AI research and deployment company. Its mission is to ensure that artificial intelligence benefits all of humanity. 

About Microsoft 

Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT" @microsoft) creates platforms and tools powered by AI to deliver innovative solutions that meet the evolving needs of our customers. The technology company is committed to making AI available broadly and doing so responsibly, with a mission to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. 

 

Cision View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lenfest-institute-openai-and-microsoft-announce-10-million-ai-collaborative-and-fellowship-program-for-us-metro-news-organizations-302282889.html

SOURCE Microsoft Corp.

FAQ

What is the Lenfest Institute AI Collaborative and Fellowship program?

It's a $10 million initiative partnering with OpenAI and Microsoft to help US metro news organizations implement AI technologies for business sustainability and innovation in local journalism.

Which news organizations are receiving grants in the initial round of the AI program?

Chicago Public Media, The Minnesota Star Tribune, Newsday, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and The Seattle Times are receiving grants in the initial round.

How much are OpenAI and Microsoft contributing to the AI Collaborative and Fellowship program?

OpenAI and Microsoft are each contributing $2.5 million in direct funding and $2.5 million in software and enterprise credits, totaling up to $10 million.

What types of AI projects will the fellowship program focus on?

The program will focus on AI applications in public data analysis, archive utilization, audience engagement, and developing new AI-based news tools and products.

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