The Government has ditched its controversial plan to let big tech firms train artificial intelligence on your favourite newspaper’s articles – as well as books, songs and videos – without paying
Bots won’t be able to snatch your Daily Star’s exclusives, chart topping music, blockbuster films and iconic telly shows for free after ministers backed down in a huge AI row.
The Government has ditched its controversial plan to let big tech firms train artificial intelligence on your favourite newspaper’s articles – as well as books, songs and videos – without paying. The move posed a huge threat to Britain’s creative industries including newspapers, music, TV and art.
Now ministers say they’ve “listened” and won’t change the law until government “gets this right”. Last year we told how our future was under threat from AI firms hoovering up content without paying.
It marks a huge victory in the battle led by your Daily Star – also backed by major stars including Dua Lipa and Sir Elton John who blasted it “thievery on a high scale”. UK Music boss Tom Kiehl hailed the climbdown as “a major victory for campaigners”.
Mandy Hill, president of the Publishers Association, added: “The existing law is clear. Copyright material cannot be used for AI development and training without permission.”
Ministers have now admitted they’ve been forced into a rethink after a huge backlash. Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said: “At the end of 2024, the government published a consultation on copyright and AI.
“At that stage, the government’s preferred way forward was to enable AI developers to train on copyright works, but to give rights-holders the ability to opt-out of this regime. This was overwhelmingly rejected by the vast majority of the creative industries.”
But there is now “no consensus” on how to strike the balance and there is now “no preferred option”. A Government assessment stated UK culture is a “world-leading national asset”, while the AI industry is growing “23 times faster than the rest of the economy”.
It comes after Donald Trump accused the BBC of manipulating his speech using AI. The US President branded the corporation as “corrupt, fraudulent news”, after it lodged a motion to dismiss his 10 billion dollar (£7.5 billion) defamation lawsuit following an edit of a Panorama documentary.
The programme came under fire last year for an episode aired in 2024, which suggested that Trump had incited his followers to storm the Capitol building in 2021 after losing the election to Joe Biden.
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