Amazon licensing deal with NYT worth $25m a year

Amazon will pay The New York Times up to $25 million a year under their recently signed multi-year content licensing agreement, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

The deal, which was first announced in May without financial terms, allows Amazon to use short excerpts and summaries of Times journalism, including content from NYT Cooking and The Athletic, across its consumer products, including Alexa. The content will also be used to train Amazon’s proprietary AI models.

Industry sources confirmed to the WSJ that the full amount will be paid in cash. At $25 million a year, the deal equates to around 1% of the Times’s annual revenue.

The agreement comes amid growing tension between publishers and AI developers over the unlicenced use of journalism to train large language models. The Times is suing OpenAI and Microsoft for alleged copyright infringement, having spent $4.4 million on legal costs in early 2025. But it has also signalled a willingness to strike commercial deals where terms are right.

“This agreement is consistent with our belief that quality journalism should be paid for and that publishers should be fairly compensated by companies that benefit from our work,” said NYT CEO Meredith Kopit Levien when the deal was first announced.

The Amazon agreement excludes Wirecutter, which already has a longstanding affiliate partnership with the company, but includes a wide range of editorial content. Unlike OpenAI or Google, Amazon has positioned its AI tools more as consumer utilities, offering news summaries and assistance through Alexa rather than a general-purpose chatbot.

Source: Noah Wire Services

Noah Fact Check Pro

The draft above was created using the information available at the time the story first
emerged. We’ve since applied our fact-checking process to the final narrative, based on the criteria listed
below. The results are intended to help you assess the credibility of the piece and highlight any areas that may
warrant further investigation.

Freshness check

Score:
10

Notes:
✅ The narrative is based on a press release from The New York Times, dated May 29, 2025, announcing the licensing agreement with Amazon. Press releases typically warrant a high freshness score due to their timely and original content. ([reuters.com](https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/new-york-times-amazon-sign-ai-licensing-deal-2025-05-29/?utm_source=openai))

Quotes check

Score:
10

Notes:
✅ The direct quotes from NYT CEO Meredith Kopit Levien in the narrative match those found in the original press release, indicating consistency and authenticity. ([reuters.com](https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/new-york-times-amazon-sign-ai-licensing-deal-2025-05-29/?utm_source=openai))

Source reliability

Score:
10

Notes:
✅ The narrative originates from a reputable organisation, The New York Times, which is a well-established and credible source in the media industry. ([reuters.com](https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/new-york-times-amazon-sign-ai-licensing-deal-2025-05-29/?utm_source=openai))

Plausability check

Score:
10

Notes:
✅ The claims made in the narrative align with the details provided in the original press release, and there are no discrepancies or inconsistencies. The content is consistent with the known facts and developments in the industry. ([reuters.com](https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/new-york-times-amazon-sign-ai-licensing-deal-2025-05-29/?utm_source=openai))

Overall assessment

Verdict (FAIL, OPEN, PASS): PASS

Confidence (LOW, MEDIUM, HIGH): HIGH

Summary:
✅ The narrative is based on a recent press release from The New York Times, detailing their licensing agreement with Amazon. The content is fresh, original, and consistent with the source, originating from a reputable organisation. All claims are plausible and supported by the original press release, with no discrepancies or inconsistencies identified.