OpenAI is bankrolling Axios’ expansion into four new markets

In Brief

OpenAI is getting into the local news game.

Newsletter-based media organization Axios announced a partnership with OpenAI on Wednesday. As part of this three-year deal, the AI giant will fund Axios’ expansion of its local newsletters into four new cities: Pittsburgh; Kansas City, Missouri; Boulder, Colorado; and Huntsville, Alabama.

While OpenAI has inked content-sharing and licensing deals with several publications — the nature and details of these deals haven’t been publicized — this is the first time OpenAI is funding the actual newsroom of a media company it partnered with, according to Axios. OpenAI’s other media partners include: Vox Media, The Atlantic, and the Financial Times, among many others.

In a blog post, OpenAI said, “In the next phase of our work⁠, including our latest partnership with Axios, we’re focusing on helping publishers more effectively integrate our tools to benefit their missions and their businesses.”

TechCrunch reached out to OpenAI for more information.

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