Perplexity AI to work with RTL and others in future

RTL Germany and Perplexity AI are cooperating. As part of the partnership, the ntv and stern brands will initially be integrated into the search engine, with other RTL products to follow in the future. Conversely, AI applications will also find a place on the brands' websites and make it easier for people to access content there. In a press release, RTL talks about "new business models" that are to be developed. In addition to RTL Germany, other global partners have also been announced.

It is not specified what these new business models will look like. In addition to integration, the collaboration also includes research and development projects. RTL Germany employees will receive access to Perplexity's Enterprise Pro program, meaning they will be able to use an improved AI search. Details on the financial part of the deal are not known, nor is there any information on whether Perplexity will also preferentially play out content from the partners for other users in future.

Generative AI and the publishers

"We launched our publisher program to develop strategic partnerships with news organizations whose content answers the questions people are asking," writes Dmitry Shevelenko, Chief Business Officer of Perplexity. The company is looking forward to "fostering a healthy and active information ecosystem". In any case, part of the partner program is also that publishers will receive a share of advertising revenue. Here too, not much is yet known about the conditions. In an interview with heise online, Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas explained that he wants to create a completely new analysis system that focuses on how often information is used or read – "this reading process can also take place on another page".

In fact, AI providers are increasingly facing the difficulty that publishers and other rights holders do not want to make their content available. Added to this is the well-known legal dispute over the lawful use of copyrighted content for the training purposes of AI models.

Isabella Thissen, Managing Director Digital RTL News, says: "Our aim with this cooperation is to position our strong publishing brands ntv and stern on new channels as trustworthy sender brands in an increasing flood of AI information." RTL welcomes the partnership model as an opportunity for a new business model. "The aim must be to enable digital value creation for content providers."

Perplexity's other new partners include Adweek, The Independent, the Los Angeles Times, Mexico News Daily, Prisa Media and more. Previous partners include Time, Fortune and Der Spiegel. Perplexity has also entered into a number of collaborations in the field of science and research. The focus is on how newsrooms can integrate AI into their own everyday work.

(emw)