Agence France-Presse (AFP) and the French artificial intelligence company Mistral have agreed to allow Mistral’s chatbot to utilize AFP’s news content to answer user questions.
The specific details of this “plurianual” contract, including the quantity and length, were not disclosed.
This marks the initial agreement for both AFP and Mistral AI, a European rival of major American companies such as OpenAI, the developer of the ChatGPT tool.
This kind of agreement is not common globally but started becoming more widespread in 2024.
Most media organizations have currently engaged in discussions with OpenAI, a California-based company that has struck deals with the Financial Times, Le Monde, and Springer, the publisher of Bild newspaper in Germany.
“This marks the initial deal between two actors aiming for international success, possessing a global presence, although both have strong European origins,” stated Fabrice Fries, the Agency’s President.
He stated in an interview with AFP reporters that the agreement will offer the agency with “a fresh source of income”.
Mensch, the startup director, emphasized the significance of AFP as a reliable journalistic source for Mistral.
Current life or daily routine?
AFP reports in six languages, including French, English, Spanish, Arabic, German, and Portuguese, can now be accessed via Mistral’s chatbot “Le Chat” starting this Thursday (16).
Its functionality is akin to ChatGPT’s, which made these tools widely known: the user poses a query and the chatbot replies swiftly.
Le Chat will respond to update-related inquiries by using AFP reports, which consist of information transmitted in textual form by the agency to its subscribers (such as press outlets, institutions, and companies), as stipulated in the agreement.
An initial round of testing will be conducted, but only for a subset of users.
Le Chat has access to all the agency’s text documents dating back to 1983, but cannot view your photos, videos, or infographics.
In all, this accounts for 38 million articles generated at a pace of 2,300 per day, as stated by Fries.
This purpose is for liberal professionals and executives of large corporations who need to create memos or other documents about current events.
Many individuals utilize generative AI tools for daily matters, and these programs typically provide responses based on available online information. According to Mensch, these two uses are seen as complementary.
AFP will offer the necessary information for questions that need verification, whereas for topics like purchases or climate, people are more likely to turn to the Internet.
‘Diversification’ – expanding variety or range.
The agreement is signed soon after Meta group (Facebook, Instagram) announces the suspension of its event verification program in the United States.
AFP leads this global initiative.
“Our conversations with Mistral started a year ago and are not connected to Meta’s decision,” stated Fries, who highlighted the use of digital platforms’ diversification strategy to generate revenue amidst the traditional media industry’s severe crisis.
In April 2024, data showed that AFP made a profit for the fifth year in a row, with a net income of 1.1 million euros (equivalent to around 5.8 million reais based on the exchange rate at the time).
AFP receives payment from the French government to cover expenses for its public service duties, in addition to its commercial income.
AFP content will not be utilized for enhancing Mistral’s computer models, unlike other agreements, as stated by both parties.
These contents can be detached from our system as a module when the contract ends, according to Mensch.
Fries stated that it is not a one-time payment like typical model training agreements, but a program for recurring profits.