Should AI companies pay for the journalism they use?
7 days ago
Millions of people now use AI chatbots as a news source to get quick answers about current events.
A 2026 survey by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism , which questioned more than 90,000 people worldwide, found that 10% use AI chatbots for news every week, a figure that is significantly higher among younger audiences.
Explaining what is happening in the world, why it matters and what it means has traditionally been the work of journalism. Media organizations send reporters into the field, commission investigations and conduct research, producing stories that help audiences understand global events. But as more people turn to AI tools for information, the relationship between those producing journalism and those distributing it is changing.
"In the past, search engines like Google indexed our websites and directed users to their articles, generating traffic in return," Julia Becker, publisher of Funke Media Group, told a panel at the Global Media Law conference in Berlin on November 5. "But now that exchange has broken down."
"AI companies draw on our quality reporting to generate answers, yet the reporting itself often remains largely invisible by the end of this process," said DW Director General Barbara Massing in a keynote address at the forum.
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