Apple Pitches Per-Use Payment Model for Siri AI News Licensing

Apple is pursuing an unconventional approach to licensing news content for its AI-enhanced Siri voice assistant, proposing to pay publishers each time their material is used rather than through traditional fixed-fee arrangements.

The company has been in discussions with multiple news organizations in recent months about multiyear licensing agreements, according to reporting by The Wall Street Journal. Apple has indicated it could allocate budgets reaching into nine figures for these usage-based payments, representing a significant departure from how AI companies typically structure content deals.

A different licensing structure

Most agreements between AI developers and news publishers involve upfront, fixed licensing fees that grant broad rights to use content for training models or powering features. Apple's proposed per-use payment system would instead tie compensation directly to how frequently a publisher's content appears in Siri responses.

The enhanced Siri is expected to launch later this year, though Apple declined to comment on the negotiations.

Why it matters

Apple's payment structure could establish a new precedent for how AI companies compensate content creators, potentially offering publishers more transparent revenue tied to actual usage rather than one-time payments. This approach may appeal to publishers wary of selling broad rights without understanding how their content will be deployed, though it also introduces uncertainty around revenue predictability. The model's success or failure could influence how other tech giants structure future content partnerships.

Context of publisher tensions

The negotiations unfold against a backdrop of increasing friction between AI companies and news organizations over content rights. The New York Times has filed suit against OpenAI and Microsoft alleging unauthorized use of its articles to train AI models. Meanwhile, News Corp and Axel Springer have opted for licensing agreements with OpenAI rather than litigation.

Apple already maintains relationships with publishers through Apple News+, its paid subscription service launched in 2019. The company has also previously negotiated separate agreements covering AI training rights for publisher content.

Recent missteps

Apple's track record with AI-generated news features includes notable problems. In late 2024, the company introduced AI-generated news summaries for users but quickly withdrew the feature after it produced inaccurate headlines that drew complaints from publishers. The incident highlighted the challenges tech companies face in reliably summarizing news content through automated systems.

News Corp, which owns The Wall Street Journal, has an existing commercial agreement to provide news through Apple services. The Wall Street Journal first reported the details of Apple's licensing negotiations with publishers.