> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.promptthemarket.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # News Corp calls on AI firms to pay for content - URL: https://www.promptthemarket.com/news-corp-calls-on-ai-firms-to-pay-for-content/ - Published: 2026-09-24T22:30:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-24T22:29:59.000Z - Description: Michael Miller, executive chairman of News Corp Australasia, took the stage at Macquarie University's Future Campus HE Fest on 24 September 2026 with a title that made his position plain: "Truth at risk in AI fight." Miller's argument was that unchecked AI systems dilute facts and erode public - Author: Editor News - Tags: Media, AI, #author-xaviery-malinao By **Xaviery Malinao** ยท 2026-09-24 TLDR News Corp Australasia executive chairman Michael Miller urged the Australian government to make AI engine providers pay publishers under a mechanism like the News Media Bargaining Code. The call came at a Macquarie University keynote, delivered as Australia prepares a copyright review, while News Corp itself holds a paid licensing deal with OpenAI and is suing Perplexity AI for unlicensed use. KEY TAKEAWAYS 01Miller called for AI engine providers to pay content creators under a News Media Bargaining Code-style mechanism. 02The Macquarie University keynote on 24 September 2026 was timed to Australia's incoming copyright review. 03News Corp signed a paid content licensing deal with OpenAI in May 2024 while suing Perplexity AI for unlicensed use. 04News Corp's FY2025 annual filing lists AI licensing partnerships as a key revenue growth driver. 05Miller met Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones in April 2026 to propose extending platform payment obligations to AI providers. ## The speech and the ask Michael Miller, executive chairman of News Corp Australasia, took the stage at Macquarie University's Future Campus HE Fest on 24 September 2026 with a title that made his position plain: "Truth at risk in AI fight."\[1\] Miller's argument was that unchecked AI systems dilute facts and erode public trust in news institutions. Future Campus convenor Tim Winkler organised the event and gave him the platform. Miller framed the occasion in his own words. "When Tim Winkler invited me to speak at Future Campus HE Fest 2026 back in June, he posed a defining question: 'Has AI created a post-truth world, and what are we going to do about it?'"\[1\] His answer was a call for government action modelled on Australia's existing framework for platform payments to publishers. ## What he proposed, and when he proposed it In a meeting with Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones on 27 April 2026, Miller proposed that suppliers of AI engines should pay content creators in the same manner digital platforms pay under the News Media Bargaining Code, Australia's 2021 law that compels Google and Meta to strike commercial deals with publishers or face mandatory arbitration.\[2\] The Macquarie speech, delivered five months later, carried the same ask into public view with the copyright review now formally approaching. Miller told the Macquarie audience that News Corp Australia will continue backing real journalism, holding the line on intellectual property, and partnering with those who respect it.\[1\] The phrase "those who respect it" does some heavy lifting given where News Corp's own balance sheet sits on this question. ## The dual strategy: licensing one, suing another News Corp signed a multi-year global content licensing agreement with OpenAI on 22 May 2024, granting OpenAI permission to display News Corp masthead content inside AI responses.\[3\] The company's investor release confirmed the arrangement; financial terms were not disclosed. That deal sits alongside a separate legal campaign: in a Form 8-K filing dated 14 February 2025, News Corp disclosed it was pursuing legal discovery against Perplexity AI over unlicensed use of its content.\[4\] OpenAI paid. Perplexity, according to News Corp's legal filings, did not. Miller's Bargaining Code proposal would, if adopted, remove the need to chase individual firms through the courts by creating a statutory obligation to negotiate. ## What the filings say In its annual filing for the fiscal year ended 30 June 2025, lodged with the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) on 7 August 2025, News Corp identified "new licensing and partnership arrangements with large technology companies and AI-focused platforms" as key growth drivers.\[5\] News Corp is, in short, booking revenue from AI licensing while publicly arguing that AI licensing needs to be mandated for everyone. That is a coherent position for a company with the reach and legal resources to cut its own deals. Dozens of Australian publishers lack the bargaining power to negotiate directly with a platform running hundreds of millions of queries a day. If the copyright review produces a code extension, those publishers benefit. If it does not, News Corp's bilateral deal with OpenAI becomes a competitive advantage rather than a sector-wide floor. ## The copyright review Australia's copyright review gives Miller's campaign its clearest opening yet. The News Media Bargaining Code, introduced in 2021, produced payment deals across the industry by threatening Google and Meta with mandatory arbitration. Extending that logic to AI engine providers would apply the mechanism to a technology that did not exist at commercial scale when the original code was drafted. News Corp owns Australia's largest newspaper network, and no publisher in the country stands to gain more from that expansion. The federal government has not announced a timetable for the review's findings. SOURCES & CITATIONS 1. [Michael Miller LinkedIn post: 'Truth at risk in AI fight', Future Campus HE Fest 2026](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/michaelmiller2333%5Ftruth-at-risk-in-ai-fight-michael-miller-activity-7507970733004873728-bOUv?ref=promptthemarket.com) 2. [Treasury FOI document: record of Miller meeting with Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones, 27 April 2026](https://treasury.gov.au/sites/default/files/2023-12/foi-3468.pdf?ref=promptthemarket.com) 3. [News Corp investor press release: multi-year content licensing deal with OpenAI, 22 May 2024](https://investors.newscorp.com/node/15946?ref=promptthemarket.com) 4. [News Corp Q1 FY2026 earnings release, 6 November 2025 (including reference to February 2025 Perplexity AI legal action)](https://newscorp.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Q1-FY2026-Earnings-Release%5FFINAL%5F6-November-2025.pdf?ref=promptthemarket.com) 5. [News Corp ASX disclosure, FY2025 annual filing, 7 August 2025](https://announcements.asx.com.au/asxpdf/20250807/pdf/06mmz0kzqkh3v1.pdf?ref=promptthemarket.com) FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS What did Michael Miller ask for at Macquarie University? Miller called on the Australian government to require AI engine providers to pay content creators under a mechanism modelled on the News Media Bargaining Code, the law that compels Google and Meta to negotiate payment deals with publishers. Does News Corp have a deal with OpenAI? Yes. News Corp signed a multi-year global content licensing agreement with OpenAI in May 2024, granting OpenAI permission to display News Corp masthead content in AI responses. Financial terms were not disclosed. Why is News Corp suing Perplexity AI while licensing to OpenAI? The two strategies reflect different conduct by the two companies. OpenAI signed a paid licensing agreement with News Corp. Perplexity AI did not, and News Corp disclosed in a February 2025 filing that it was pursuing legal discovery against Perplexity for unlicensed use of its content. What is the News Media Bargaining Code? Australia's News Media Bargaining Code is a 2021 law that compels large digital platforms such as Google and Meta to negotiate commercial payment deals with news publishers or face binding arbitration. Miller has proposed extending a similar obligation to AI engine providers. [Xaviery Malinao](https://www.promptthemarket.com/xaviery-malinao/) Xaviery Malinao writes for Prompt the Market on how brands and agencies are adapting to answer engines, drawing on Bushnote's work with clients across search, AI search and content.