Apple in talks to pay publishers for news to power Siri AI

Apple is in talks with news publishers on multi-year contracts to license their content so its new Siri AI can access current events, per the Wall Street Journal via TechCrunch and Yahoo Finance. The proposals reportedly carry a substantial nine-figure budget and a 'variable compensation plan' with payments tied to actual content usage — a notable deviation from the fixed-fee licensing deals OpenAI and others have signed with publishers.

The move directly addresses a prior failure: Apple suspended its iOS 18 notification-summary feature in 2025 after it generated false, embarrassing news headlines. Ensuring Siri has access to accurate, up-to-date, licensed news is Apple's way of not repeating that mistake as it ships a far more capable assistant.

The revamped Siri is expected with iOS 27 (and watchOS 27) this fall, bringing a dedicated Siri app and next-generation Apple Intelligence. Reports indicate the more powerful underlying Apple Foundation Model was trained with help from Google Gemini, and — per this week's separate Qwen news — Apple is integrating Alibaba's Qwen for devices sold in China. That reliance on Google and Alibaba models has fueled ongoing debate about Apple's in-house AI credibility.

The usage-based payment structure is the most interesting wrinkle: it aligns publisher compensation with real AI consumption rather than flat licensing, potentially setting a precedent others follow — or a source of disputes over measurement. Tom's Guide flagged a 'Gen Z problem,' questioning whether traditional news sourcing matches younger users' habits. Watch which publishers sign and whether the variable model holds up.