News Corp labels some AI companies 'crass kleptomaniacs'

News Corporation's CEO, Robert Thomson, has harshly criticized certain AI companies, branding them as "crass kleptomaniacs" during the company's latest results announcement. He argued that without News Corporation's quality content, users would be inundated with "AI slop." Thomson emphasized that News Corporation has trusted relationships with OpenAI and Meta, and is in advanced discussions with other companies.

However, he warned that his company will take aggressive action against those who steal its content, including launching lawsuits and "pursuing" such entities. He specifically accused browser maker Brave of shamelessly stealing News Corporation's content and illegally sourcing and repurposing copyrighted material. Thomson described Brave as "a company brave in name only."

He also praised companies that pay for News Corporation's content, calling them "principled" and "honorable." The CEO expressed hope for more deals in the future, but also anticipated legal action against the accused AI companies. News Corporation is not alone in its accusations; authors have filed lawsuits alleging their books were used to train large language models without permission or compensation.

Anthropic settled one such case for $1.5 billion. Thomson also highlighted the company's Digital Real Estate Services segment, which reported a 12% increase in annual revenue to $1.8 billion. The full-year revenue for News Corporation reached $9.03 billion, a 7% increase. While not breaking out revenue from OpenAI and Meta, Thomson emphasized the significance of these deals, describing them as "savvy distributors" and stressing the crucial role of News Corporation's content in their outputs. As for litigation, Thomson stated it is far from over.