Meta Rekindles Publisher Partnerships As AI Race Intensifies Against OpenAI, Perplexity, Gemini: Report

According to a report by Axios, Meta has struck several commercial AI data agreements with publishers including USA Today, Fox News, and Le Monde.

Meta Platforms (META) is reportedly re-engaging with news publishers, marking a shift from its 2022 decision not to renew its content partnerships.

According to a report by Axios, Meta has struck several commercial AI data agreements with publishers, including USA Today, People Inc., Fox News, The Daily Caller, Washington Examiner, and Le Monde. 

The new deals reflect Meta’s effort to secure training data and licensed content for its AI systems at a time when the industry is moving toward formal agreements rather than relying on unlicensed scraping to better compete against the likes of Perplexity, Google’s Gemini 3, and OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

While financial terms were not reported, Axios described the partnerships as commercial data deals aimed at feeding Meta’s AI products. Meta’s stock edged 0.5% higher in pre-market trade with retail sentiment around the company trending in ‘bearish’ territory even as chatter rose to ‘high’ from ‘low’ levels over the past day. 

Rivals Expand Their Own Publisher Partnerships

Meta’s move comes as competitors have also broadened their relationships with news organizations. Perplexity announced its revenue-share model in August 2025, committing an initial $42.5 million to compensate publishers whose articles appear in AI queries on its platform and Comet browser. 

Under the structure, publishers receive 80% of subscription revenue tied to services like Comet Plus. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around Perplexity trended in ‘extremely bullish’ territory, accompanied by ‘high’ levels of chatter.

OpenAI has signed deals with more than 20 outlets, including The Guardian in February, The Associated Press, Politico, Vox Media, and Wired. The partnerships allow content to appear in ChatGPT with attribution and payment. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around OpenAI was in ‘bearish’ territory at the time of writing.

Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL)-backed Google has been pushing for news partnerships as it builds out Gemini. The company partnered with the Associated Press in January, followed by the Australian Associated Press in August, to deliver real-time news feeds for Gemini responses. The company is also reportedly exploring pilot licensing arrangements with about 20 additional national publishers to expand AI content sourcing.

Meta’s Strategic Pivot

Meta AI is integrated across Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger. The new content deals will allow its AI chatbot to provide real-time answers with proper attribution and link users directly to publishers’ websites.

These agreements, similar to the company’s prior deal with Reuters, are multiyear contracts that compensate publishers for the use of their content. According to the report, Meta plans to expand partnerships, topics, and features over time to deliver a wider range of verified news, entertainment, and lifestyle content.

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