Meta has struck new licensing deals with international publishers to improve its AI's ability to surface global news content. The company announced agreements with French newspaper Le Figaro, Spanish media company Prisa, and German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, along with expanding its existing deal with News Corp. These partnerships aim to give Meta AI better access to timely information about world events.

Meta didn't disclose financial terms, though The Wall Street Journal previously reported the News Corp arrangement was worth up to $50 million annually. The company says it will link out to articles, allowing users to visit publishers' websites for more details while helping partners reach new audiences. This marks a shift for Meta, which has a complicated history with news publishers.

In the past, Meta paid publishers for live video and "instant articles" before changing course as news content became less of a priority for Facebook. Now, facing stiff competition in AI, Meta is once again investing in news content. The company acknowledges its AI assistant struggles with accurate, timely information—a problem I documented in 2024 when it couldn't answer basic questions like who the Speaker of the House is. These deals should help Meta AI handle such queries better, though whether publishers will see meaningful traffic from these arrangements remains uncertain given broader concerns about AI's impact on web traffic.