Microsoft, Lenfest Institute, and OpenAI have launched a $10M AI fellowship for local news innovation.
Takeaway Points
- Microsoft, Lenfest Institute, and OpenAI have launched a $10M AI fellowship for local news innovation.
- 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, to support the new Lenfest Institute AI Collaborative and Fellowship program and resources.
Lenfest Institute, OpenAI, and Microsoft Collaborate
Microsoft, in a press release on Tuesday, said that The Lenfest Institute for Journalism, a leader in developing solutions for the next era of local news, announced a major new collaboration with OpenAI and Microsoft Corp. The aim is 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.
The company said that 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.
Jim Friedlich, executive director and CEO of The Lenfest Institute, commented, “We are pleased to be working with both OpenAI and Microsoft on this important initiative to support local news. 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.”
Tom Rubin, chief of Intellectual Property and Content, OpenAI, remarked, “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. Local news is a particularly vulnerable area of journalism, and we believe AI can help it thrive.”
Teresa Hutson, corporate vice president, technology for fundamental rights at Microsoft, said, “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. 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.”
The selected projects
Microsoft said that the selected projects include: 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.
$2.5 million Funds
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, to support the new Lenfest Institute AI Collaborative and Fellowship program and resources. 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, according to the report.
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.
