Open AI's Largest Investor, Microsoft Partners With News Website Semafor For AI-Assisted Content

Microsoft has announced its partnership with US-based media platform Semafor and other news organisations to help journalists work with generative artificial intelligence (AI) to produce content.

Navgatiing through troubled waters

This comes at a time, when the AI race not only getting heated up, but also more convoluted, given the myraid strings attached to the paradigm and of Artificial intelligence, and what it means for the present and the future.

While the wind of AI has seen confusion and uncertainty, it has also seen some collaboration with news major, Associated Press (AP), while it has seen backlash and retaliation from other corners, famously from the coveted New York Times (NYT), who sued Open AI for infringing their copyright, and using their articles to train their system, without their permission.

The Age of Collaboration

Microsoft said that collaboration with these organisations will help them responsibly use AI in their news gathering and business practices by identifying and refining procedures and policies. "Semafor will work with us to harness AI tools to assist journalists in their research, source discovery, translation, and more with Semafor Signals, helping journalists provide a diverse array of credible local, national, and global sources to their audience," Microsoft said in a blogpost on Monday.

Working in Unison in the AI Era

The company has also announced its collaboration with news organisations, such as the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, the Online News Association and the GroundTruth Project, in order to integrate generative AI into their work and newsrooms. According to the company, each organisation will have access to Microsoft experts, technology, and support this year, and has committed to sharing the results of their projects with the wider industry to teach, inspire, and innovate the way news will be produced in the future. "Working directly with newsrooms, universities, journalists, and industry groups, we will help these organisations use AI to grow audiences, streamline time-consuming tasks in the newsroom, and build sustainable business operations," Microsoft said. The tech giant also noted that their goal is to find ways to support journalists in this mission, not replace them.

This development comes at a time when stakeholder have taken cognizance of the perils of AI to the present and the future. The all-powerful European Union has agreed upon the need for regulation. On the other end of the Atlantic, the Biden administration has also often acknowledged the risks involving AI. When it comes to the east, not much is officially said, but any regulation in India or China cannot be ruled out.