Media leaders and legal experts debated how artificial intelligence companies should pay for journalism used in chatbot answers at the 2026 Global Media Forum in Bonn. One proposal would require payments when an AI system draws on news reporting to respond to a user.
DW Director General Barbara Massing argued that AI services rely on publishers’ work while often making the original reporting less visible. She said AI systems should pay for quality journalism as well as use it.
The forum took place in Bonn on June 23 and 24, according to DW’s event information. The discussion reflects a shift in how news reaches audiences: publishers have traditionally gained visits when search engines linked to their articles, while AI tools can provide summaries directly.
A proposed payment system
Martin Senftleben, director of the Institute for Information Law at the University of Amsterdam, distinguished between using journalism to train AI models and drawing on it to generate answers in real time. He said the latter raises an immediate question about compensation and argued that existing European Union copyright law could allow publishers and journalists to seek payment collectively.
One option he outlined was a system in which each AI response relying on journalism triggers a fee. A collecting body could then distribute the money to publishers and journalists, similar to the way music royalties are handled. Senftleben called for Germany to consider introducing such a mechanism.
Google’s Lutz Mache said the company was willing to negotiate with German media organizations and was testing an “AI Contribution” pilot with selected publishers. The trial is intended to reward content that plays a significant role in answers from products including Gemini and AI Overviews. Google also says its ancillary copyright agreements cover more than 800 German publications.
Not all participants supported tighter rules. Jörg Heidrich, an AI commissioner at German media company Heise, warned that additional restrictions could make it harder for European technology firms, startups and research institutions to access the data they need. No general payment system for journalism used in AI answers was announced at the forum.
Reid Bentley