New York Times CEO Meredith Kopit Levien delivered a blunt message Wednesday to artificial intelligence companies using the newspaper’s journalism: “They have to pay us.”
“If a company — if a model maker — is using our work to develop their generative AI tools, they need a commercial agreement with us,” Kopit Levien said during a panel at the Status Summit event in New York. “We’re not letting anybody off. And as you’ve seen, we’re prepared to enforce our rights where necessary.”
Kopit Levien said any agreement would require the Times’ permission and give the publisher control over how its journalism is used, while providing compensation it considers fair and sustainable.
Her comments came after Status founder Oliver Darcy pressed her about Google’s AI search practices and whether the Times had discussed the issue with the technology giant. Kopit Levien declined to discuss any company the Times has not addressed publicly or say whether the publisher might take action against Google.
Instead, she emphasized that the Times’ conditions apply broadly to model makers using its journalism to develop generative AI tools.
The Times has taken a two-pronged approach to AI, pursuing copyright litigation against OpenAI, Microsoft and Perplexity while remaining open to commercial agreements. It struck an AI licensing deal with Amazon in 2025.
The agreement allows Amazon to use content from the Times, NYT Cooking and The Athletic in products including Alexa and to train its AI models.
The publisher spent $4.2 million on AI-related litigation during the first quarter of 2026, TheWrap previously reported.
Kopit Levien also said major technology companies play an outsize role in determining the quality of information available to the public as their products increasingly shape how people find and consume news.
“These companies, including Google, have enormous responsibility for the quality of information and discourse that the public has access to,” she said. “They control so much of how information is surfaced and discovered and engaged with.”
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