Google LLC and the state of California have agreed to a deal under which the tech giant will commit $172.5 million to fund local journalism over the next five years while some of the money will be set aside for artificial intelligence development in the state.
The deal comes after months of dispute between lawmakers and the tech giant. The state had originally wanted Google and other major tech players such as Meta Platforms Inc. to pay news publishers for linking to their websites. This fell under the “California Journalism Preservation Act,” legislation similar to what developed after Australia demanded Meta pay for Australian news.
On top of Google’s largesse, $70 million in California’s taxes will go toward the initiative, but solely toward an AI-centered nonprofit that is yet to be established. Politico reports that about $55 million will be directed toward a nonprofit public charity at UC Berkeley’s journalism school, and “existing journalism programs” will get about $50 million.
“California lawmakers have worked with the tech and news sectors to develop a collaborative framework to accelerate AI innovation and support local and national businesses and nonprofit organizations,” said Alphabet President of Global Affairs Kent Walker. “This public-private partnership builds on our long history of working with journalism and the local news ecosystem in our home state while developing a national center of excellence on AI policy.”
It all seems a bit vague and it’s hard to see how local journalism will benefit from Google’s charitable gesture of throwing some crumbs around. The Media Guild of the West, which supports journalism in California, Arizona, and Texas, called the deal “a ratification of Google’s monopoly power over our newsrooms.” The guild said the “paltry” sum Google has offered is more an olive branch to “avoid legislation by the state,” with much of the cash going toward what it called “a vague AI accelerator project.”
The nonprofit advocacy arm of the Free Press, Free Press Action, was similarly displeased, saying the funding was “far too meager” and “the commitment to localism and diversity far too inadequate.” State Sen. Steve Glazer, author of a bill to revive local journalism, said the deal “seriously undercuts our work toward a long-term solution to rescue independent journalism” and won’t have any effect on the “death spiral” of the state’s local journalism.
It seems the funding for now might have only deepened the feud between Big Tech and small journalism. The latter has indeed been decimated in California over the last 20 years, and it seems unlikely the downward trajectory is going to change.