Paper Number
ICIS2025-2770
Paper Type
Complete
Abstract
The impact of generative AI on digital content businesses extends beyond short-term disruption, depending on how incumbent players respond strategically. Leveraging a quasi-natural experiment involving major news organizations’ cooperation with OpenAI, we examine how incremental access to exclusive content affects news consumption. Using the generalized synthetic control method, we estimate the causal impact of cooperation on web traffic to news sites. Results show that cooperation yields a net positive effect on visits, driven by generative AI’s ability to broaden content reach and convert new users into site visitors. We further identify two mechanisms of demand gains: reduced search costs at the content level (direct attribution links to articles) and at the brand level (an advertising effect that increases awareness and interest). These findings provide timely insights into debates on intellectual property and revenue sharing, and shed light on strategic interactions between generative AI platforms and content providers.
Recommended Citation
Han, Minjie; Zheng, Jinyang; and Rui, Huaxia, "Should News Organizations Share Data with Generative AI?" (2025). ICIS 2025 Proceedings. 39.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/icis2025/gen_ai/gen_ai/39
Should News Organizations Share Data with Generative AI?
The impact of generative AI on digital content businesses extends beyond short-term disruption, depending on how incumbent players respond strategically. Leveraging a quasi-natural experiment involving major news organizations’ cooperation with OpenAI, we examine how incremental access to exclusive content affects news consumption. Using the generalized synthetic control method, we estimate the causal impact of cooperation on web traffic to news sites. Results show that cooperation yields a net positive effect on visits, driven by generative AI’s ability to broaden content reach and convert new users into site visitors. We further identify two mechanisms of demand gains: reduced search costs at the content level (direct attribution links to articles) and at the brand level (an advertising effect that increases awareness and interest). These findings provide timely insights into debates on intellectual property and revenue sharing, and shed light on strategic interactions between generative AI platforms and content providers.
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12-GenAI