The American Journalism Project, the leading enterprise philanthropy working to rebuild local news, today announced a brand new partnership with OpenAI, the AI research and deployment company behind ChatGPT, to explore ways by which the event of artificial intelligence (AI) can support a thriving, progressive local news field.

OpenAI is committing $5 million to the American Journalism Project to support the expansion of AJP’s work and as much as $5 million in OpenAI API credits to assist its grantee organizations assess and deploy emerging AI technologies inside their organizations. The collaboration goals to determine lines of dialogue between the local news industry and OpenAI, and to develop tools that would assist local news organizations.

“To make sure local journalism stays a vital pillar of our democracy, we must be smart in regards to the potential powers and pitfalls of recent technology,” said Sarabeth Berman, CEO of the American Journalism Project. “In these early days of generative AI, we’ve got the chance to be sure that local news organizations, and their communities, are involved in shaping its implications. With this partnership, we aim to advertise ways for AI to reinforce — reasonably than imperil — journalism.”

There are significant opportunities for journalism organizations to make use of AI: it could facilitate deeper evaluation of public data and data; strengthen and personalize user experience; and develop recent formats for delivering information. At the identical time, AI poses essential challenges to developers, journalists and society, including the potential growth and spread of misinformation and sophisticated questions surrounding bias, privacy, and copyright.

Through this partnership, AJP goals to construct the support structure for community-driven local news organizations to expand their capacities through AI. The partnership can even support AJP’s efforts to rebuild local news and create healthier information ecosystems at local levels to counter mis- and-disinformation. 

“We proudly support the American Journalism Project’s mission to strengthen our democracy by rebuilding the country’s local news sector. This collaboration underscores our mission and belief that AI should profit everyone and be used as a tool to reinforce work,” said Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI. “We look ahead to working with AJP and its grantees, making a priceless feedback loop, and exploring ways AI technology can bolster the work of local journalism.”

AJP and its portfolio of local news organizations will use funds from OpenAI to experiment with the appliance of artificial intelligence in several ways:

• Making a technology and AI studio: AJP will assemble a team that may assess the applications of AI throughout the local news sector. The studio will give AJP portfolio organizations expert coaching, add capability as they explore the best way to best leverage AI tools, and can foster collaboration and a feedback loop with external partners like OpenAI and vendors working on AI’s applications that support high-quality journalism and impede the spread of misinformation. As a part of this work, the studio will organize a learning community across the AJP portfolio to document and share best practices, guidelines, and lessons as experiments unfold.
• Making pilot investments: AJP will distribute direct grants to roughly ten of its portfolio organizations to assist them explore opportunities to utilize AI’s capabilities. These grantees will pilot and experiment with quite a few AI applications; their work will function examples for the whole local news field about ways to best use AI-powered tools.
• API credits from OpenAI: Along with $5 million in funding, OpenAI can even contribute as much as $5 million in API credits to AJP and its portfolio organizations, who may select to construct and use tools utilizing the technology.

The American Journalism Project is the leading enterprise philanthropy working to handle the market-failure in local news.It’s establishing and advancing a brand new generation of nonprofit local news organizations across the country. Encouraging the adoption of recent technology, to reinforce journalism in the general public interest, has been a core component of AJP’s enterprise support. Up to now, AJP has raised $139 million from local and national funders to handle the local news crisis, and has backed 41 nonprofit local news organizations across the country.

Founded in 2019, AJP is built on the evidence that robust journalism is a vital part of healthy democracy. Local news ensures that the general public stays informed and engaged. The marked decline of local news, within the era of the web, has had measurable consequences on civic life, weakening the ability of residents to carry community, business, and government leaders accountable, and to attach with their neighbors on matters of mutual concern.

Founded in 2015, OpenAI is a research and deployment company dedicated to making sure that general-purpose artificial intelligence advantages all of humanity. The corporate is governed by a nonprofit and its original charter today.