Estimated reading time: 6 minutes · Last updated:
Anthropic has signed a content and data licensing agreement with the Associated Press. Users who asked Claude about polling on midterm Election Night got live information credited to the AP. The Anthropic AP licensing deal was signed shortly before the vote, two people familiar with the matter said, as first reported by ADWEEK. Neither side has revealed the price or how long the arrangement lasts. Mark Stenberg, the senior media reporter who broke the news, reports that Claude's maker had never licensed content from a digital publisher before Tuesday. That sets it apart from OpenAI, which has signed more than a dozen such agreements. The move comes weeks before Anthropic's planned stock market listing.
Key takeaways
- The deal: Anthropic and the Associated Press signed a content and data licensing agreement just before the midterm elections, two people familiar with the matter said.
- What users saw: Claude answered Election Night polling questions with current information attributed to the AP.
- Undisclosed terms: Neither Anthropic nor the AP has disclosed the financial terms or the duration of the arrangement, and neither commented on the record.
- A break with past practice: Mark Stenberg reports that until Tuesday Anthropic had no licensing deal with any digital publisher, while OpenAI has struck more than a dozen, including with Axel Springer, News Corp. and The Atlantic.
- An experiment: Stenberg expects Anthropic to use the AP arrangement to decide whether to pursue more publisher licensing, not to treat it as a settled change of strategy.
Table of contents
- Key takeaways
- What the AP Deal Put Inside Claude on Election Night
- Why Anthropic Stayed Out of Licensing Until Now
- How Publisher Blocking Pushed an AI Firm to the Table
- Why the Associated Press Suited a Test Run
- Does One Deal Change Anthropic's Strategy?
- What could widen or stall Anthropic's licensing push
- What to be careful about
- Frequently asked questions
What the AP Deal Put Inside Claude on Election Night
On Election Night, a Claude user asking for the latest polling numbers would have seen something new. The answer carried current information, sourced to the Associated Press and labelled that way. That change is the visible product of the agreement, which covers both content and data.
Very little else is public. Anthropic did not answer a request for comment, and the AP declined to say anything on the record. Neither company has disclosed the financial terms, the length of the contract or other key provisions. It is therefore unclear whether the AP feed was a one-night arrangement or the start of something longer.
Stenberg calls the deal a sharp break for Anthropic. Until Tuesday, he reports, the company had no content licensing agreement with any digital publisher. Its main rival stands somewhere else entirely. OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, has struck more than a dozen deals with large publishers, among them Axel Springer, News Corp. and The Atlantic.
Why Anthropic Stayed Out of Licensing Until Now
Anthropic's refusal to negotiate had become a subject of curiosity across the media business, and Stenberg examined it in August. At that point, he reported, the company sincerely believed its scraping and use of publisher content was protected by fair use. It had entered no partnerships and given no sign it planned to.
That stance held only as long as Claude could work well without paid access. The election tested it. Stenberg's view is that an index of information without fresh data is of sharply reduced use, something publishers have argued for years. With no deals in place with major newsrooms, Claude had no route to the credible, timely reporting people want during an election.
The timing raised the stakes. Anthropic is preparing to list its shares within weeks. A chatbot that looks weak on one of the busiest search days of the year is not the product a company wants on display at that moment.
How Publisher Blocking Pushed an AI Firm to the Table
Premium news sites block Anthropic's crawlers, the automated programs that collect web pages for AI systems. That has left Claude drawing on what AI researcher Deana Burke calls the "unlocked web", the sites that leave their doors open.
Those lower-credibility sources can cope with low-stakes questions. They cannot tell anyone which candidate took a Senate seat 10 minutes earlier. On a night when that is exactly what people ask, Anthropic risked users finding Claude close to useless for live information.
Stenberg describes the blocking as a digital embargo. News outlets withhold their work in the hope that answer engines, the AI tools that respond to questions directly instead of returning a list of links, will come and negotiate licences. Publishers have used the tactic against other AI companies too. In this single case, Stenberg concludes, it worked.
Why the Associated Press Suited a Test Run
The AP is not a typical publisher. Most of its revenue comes from licensing and wire agreements with other news organisations. Selling its reporting to outside parties is already central to how it runs.
It also has history with AI companies. Stenberg reports that the AP was the first publisher Google and OpenAI each signed licensing agreements with. Anthropic now joins that list.
Its political standing matters as well. The AP is regarded as non-partisan and presents itself as closer to a service than a publisher, which Stenberg compares to Getty Images for information. Most publishers carry some editorial slant. For an AI firm trying out licensing during an election, a neutral wire service avoids any suggestion of picking a side.
Does One Deal Change Anthropic's Strategy?
Stenberg cautions against reading too much into it. He sees the agreement as a limited experiment, not proof of a permanent shift. He expects Anthropic to study the results before deciding whether to sign more.
Two questions remain open. One is whether the AP data made Claude useful enough to justify further spending. The other is whether publishers without the AP's wire business or its neutrality can win comparable terms.
Stenberg's wider argument is that Anthropic will find it hard to become the dominant answer engine without premium publishers. The election deal is early evidence that the company may be weighing that point.
| Company | Product | Publisher licensing | Partners named |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anthropic | Claude | None until the AP deal signed before the midterms | Associated Press |
| OpenAI | ChatGPT | More than a dozen deals | Axel Springer, News Corp., The Atlantic, Associated Press |
| Not specified | Licensing agreements signed | Associated Press |
What could widen or stall Anthropic's licensing push
The case for
- Live AP data gave Claude credible answers on Election Night, the kind of query the unlocked web cannot handle.
- The AP already earns most of its revenue from licensing, so extending or renewing the arrangement fits its business model.
- Publishers that block Anthropic's crawlers now have a precedent showing the company will negotiate.
The case against
- Stenberg describes the deal as a limited experiment, so Anthropic may decide against further agreements.
- Anthropic's earlier position that scraping is fair use gives it a reason to resist paying publishers broadly.
- Publishers lacking the AP's wire business and non-partisan standing may find Anthropic less willing to deal.
What to be careful about
- The terms and duration are undisclosed, so the AP feed could disappear from Claude without notice.
- Without wider licensing, Claude may keep relying on lower-credibility unlocked-web sources for breaking news.
- Publishers that keep blocking crawlers while only the AP is licensed could leave Claude's live coverage narrow.
The bottom line
Anthropic's agreement with the Associated Press is narrow in visible scope and broad in what it signals. A company that treated publisher content as covered by fair use agreed licensing terms for live election data on the night it mattered most. The AP was an easy partner: a wire service that already lives on licensing, already works with Google and OpenAI, and avoids partisan framing. Harder conversations lie with publishers that lack those traits and still block Claude's crawlers. With price and duration undisclosed and Anthropic heading for a public listing, the clearest next signal will be whether a second publisher starts appearing in Claude's answers.
What to watch
- Watch for Anthropic's public listing, which Stenberg says is a matter of weeks away; no date has been set, and any filing may reveal the cost or length of the AP agreement.
- Watch whether a second publisher signs a licensing deal with Anthropic after the midterms, which would test Stenberg's view that the AP deal is only an experiment; no timeline has been given.
- Watch for either company to disclose the financial terms or duration of the agreement; neither has said when or whether it will.
Frequently asked questions
How much is Anthropic paying the Associated Press?
That has not been disclosed. Asked for comment, Anthropic gave no reply, the AP offered no on-record statement, and neither has made public the price or the length of the contract.
Which news publishers has OpenAI signed licensing deals with?
Axel Springer, News Corp. and The Atlantic are among the major publishers that have signed licensing agreements with OpenAI, which now has more than a dozen such arrangements. According to Mark Stenberg, the first publisher to sign on with OpenAI was The Associated Press.
What is the unlocked web that Claude relied on?
AI researcher Deana Burke uses the term "unlocked web" for sites that do not block AI crawlers. They tend to be lower-credibility sources that can handle simple questions but cannot report results such as a Senate race decided 10 minutes earlier.
Why did Anthropic choose the AP for its licensing deal?
Stenberg points to the AP's wire business, which already earns most of its revenue from licensing, and its non-partisan reputation. He likens its role to Getty Images for information, which makes it a lower-risk partner for an election test.
Related reading
