The BBC, Financial Times, The Guardian, Sky News and Telegraph Media Group have formed a new coalition to push for global AI standards.
SPUR – the Standards for Publisher Usage Rights coalition sees them come together to protect original journalism and “secure the long-term sustainability of our industry.”
In a joint open letter from Tim Davie, BBC Director-General; Jon Slade, CEO, Financial Times; Anna Bateson, CEO, The Guardian; David Rhodes, Executive Chairman, Sky News; and Anna Jones, CEO, Telegraph Media Group they invited global leaders from all publishing, broadcast, media and news brands to join them.
“Artificial Intelligence is fundamentally reshaping how content is created, distributed, discovered and monetised. We believe we need to come together to protect original journalism and secure the long-term sustainability of our industry,” they wrote.
“AI brings opportunities for publishers and our audience. 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.”
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The letter also pointed to how AI companies are already using their material:
“Across the industry, our reporting, our archives, our original content, have become foundational training material for AI systems. This material has been scraped, copied and reused with no common standards to enable permission or payment, weakening the economic model that supports journalism.
“The lack of transparency about how AI answers are created risks eroding public trust in both the news and the technologies used to access it.”
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They stated that SPUR’s mission was to: “establish shared technical standards and responsible licensing frameworks that ensure AI developers can access high quality, reliable journalism in legitimate, responsible and convenient ways, while guaranteeing that publishers retain practical control of their content and receive fair value when it is used.”
The letter explained that the coalition would:
- Develop shared industry standards, creating responsible ways for original journalism to be used sustainably
- Reduce friction in licensing and bridge the gap between publishers and AI developers
- Identify gaps in the technical tools needed to protect intellectual property, and support their creation
- Ensure high value content can be accessed through rights cleared, accountable channels
- Evaluate existing industry infrastructure and assess where new technologies or approaches are needed
- Enable transparent, scalable use of journalistic content.”
“For more than two centuries, media organisations have invested in journalism and newsgathering that underpin informed, connected societies. Our work strengthens democracy, empowers citizens, and holds those in power to account. This contribution rests not only on our reach, but on the standards that sustain it: editorial accuracy, accountability and trust. Trust earned over decades,” continued the letter.
“This is a global challenge, and SPUR’s ambition is to be a global coalition. Working across the industry, we can build systems that respect original reporting, uphold public trust, and enable both journalism and AI to thrive. Together, we will work with tech companies to adopt responsible, rights-cleared pathways to journalistic content, and with policymakers to build a modern regulatory framework that protects publisher rights and sets clear expectations for responsible AI development.
“Our goal is to help shape a market that rewards original reporting and supports responsible AI innovation.”
