Sky News joins media leaders to drive push for AI standards to 'protect original journalism'

Sky News has joined some of the biggest news outlets in the UK in seeking to build a coalition of broadcasters and publishers to set protocols for AI's fair use of their material.

The founding members - the Financial Times, The Guardian, the Daily Telegraph, the BBC and Sky News - are calling for a shared standard to "protect original journalism". In an open letter released on Thursday, the outlets outlined the goal of a framework that balances the needs of AI developers to access high-quality journalism and the need for news platforms to retain practical control of their content.

The founding members are calling on other news publishers and broadcasters to join them, with the letter addressed to other leaders in global media. The alliance, called the Standards for Publisher Usage Rights coalition (SPUR), said news content has become "foundational" training material for AI systems but the lack of standards to enable payment or permission posed a risk to the sector.

"Artificial Intelligence is fundamentally reshaping how content is created, distributed, discovered and monetised," the joint letter said. "We believe we need to come together to protect original journalism and secure the long-term sustainability of our industry." The letter outlining SPUR's mission was signed by Sky News chairman David Rhodes; Telegraph Media Group chief executive Anna Jones; Financial Times chief executive Jon Slade; The Guardian chief executive Anna Bateson; and BBC director-general Tim Davie.

SPUR said its goals were to work with tech companies and policy-makers to build a framework to "shape a market that rewards original reporting and supports responsible AI innovation". "AI brings opportunities for publishers and our audience," the letter said.

"Our organisations are already at the forefront of using AI in responsible ways to benefit our audiences. "But AI also raises urgent questions about fairness, consent, attribution, transparency and trust." Read more from Sky News:AI is developing so fast it is becoming hard to measure, experts sayPolice still using AI tool despite inaccurate evidence in fan ban SPUR said it would develop shared industry standards that allow "original journalism to be used sustainably.