AdvertisementThe ABC is being asked by Anthropic to share decades of radio and television content in return for compensation to train the global AI giant’s large language models, the broadcaster’s boss has revealed.Hugh Marks said the tech giant, which was recently valued at $US965 billion ($1.4 trillion), wants access to the ABC’s archives to train its Claude AI chatbot, but that media companies like the public broadcaster are in a disproportionate bargaining position. He made the comments during a panel session focused on the impact of artificial intelligence on media companies with fellow executives on Tuesday night.Hugh Marks said the tech giant wants access to the ABC’s radio archives to train its Claude AI chatbot.Dominic Lorrimer“One of the interesting things for us in that discussion is that they want access to our audio content,” Marks said when asked by journalist and radio host Hamish Macdonald about the ABC’s ongoing negotiations over a commercial deal with Anthropic.“They want access to the work that you and your colleagues are doing now, and have done over generations.”AdvertisementIt is rare for media executives to make such a revealing comment about ongoing commercial negotiations. Nine CEO Matt Stanton declined to comment on the finer details of a recent deal the company inked with Microsoft to use content from its titles, including this masthead.Seeking access to the ABC’s news content is a “given”, Marks said, as tech giants like Anthropic, Microsoft and OpenAI want legitimacy for the information presented to those using their chatbots.“Increasingly, as the world moves to video, they also want video content,” Marks added.Marks said tech giants like Anthropic, Microsoft and OpenAI want legitimacy for the information presented to those using their chatbots.BloombergAn Anthropic spokesperson denied the claims made by Marks on Tuesday night. “We were surprised by these comments as we are not in commercial negotiations with ABC for licensing their content,” the spokesperson said.AdvertisementDuring the panel discussion – which included News Corp’s local executive chair Michael Miller, Stanton, SBS managing director Jane Palfreyman and Reuters editor-in-chief Alessandra Galloni – the executives argued for the need for financial compensation for trusted news content and the reputations of their mastheads, developed over decades.“We are in a disproportional bargaining position,” Marks said.“We have these global businesses that have got trillion dollar investment balances, that have power and seem to have convinced some governments around the world that for some reason they should be able to take IP, where maybe they can’t take water or land or goods or other things. But for some reason they seem to think that IP is a free thing they can take from us.”The panel session was held as part of a new format for the ABC’s Andrew Olle Media Lecture, delivered earlier in the night by Galloni, who urged further collaboration between Australian media companies as AI uptake increasingly redefines the role media plays in society.AdvertisementThe ABC revised its principles on the use of artificial intelligence last month, introducing Claude as its AI tool of choice for its staff across the organisation.The Business Briefing newsletter delivers major stories, exclusive coverage and expert opinion. Sign up to get it every weekday morning.SaveYou have reached your maximum number of saved items.Remove items from your saved list to add more.ShareLicense this articleMore:Media & marketingHugh MarksABCCalum Jaspan is a media writer for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, based in Melbourne. Reach him securely on Signal @calumjaspan.10Connect via X or email.AdvertisementAdvertisement