AI news · Anthropic · AP
Anthropic strikes first news licensing deal, with AP, Adweek says
Claude showed AP election data on midterm night, Adweek reports, after a long run in which, Adweek says, Anthropic signed no publisher while OpenAI signed more than a dozen.
Anthropic has signed its first content licence with a news publisher, Adweek reported on 4 November 2026, citing two people familiar with the matter. The partner is the Associated Press, the deal landed just before the US midterms, and Claude users who asked about the election that night got live information credited to the AP.
Neither side has confirmed it: Anthropic left Adweek’s request for comment unanswered, the AP declined to comment on the record, and the deal’s price and length are unpublished. On 14 October Anthropic said Claude would carry election results, plus official voting details from the nonprofit Democracy Works, Reuters reported.
Digital media executives told Adweek that Anthropic believes its use of publisher content is legal as fair use, a US rule that lets some copyrighted material be used without a licence. Adweek says OpenAI has signed more than a dozen licences, and that publishers answered Anthropic by blocking its crawlers, the automated programs that read web pages, which left Claude citing what researcher Deana Burke calls the unlocked web. Adweek adds that the AP is an exceptional case, because licensing brings in the vast majority of its revenue.
Web search is part of Claude’s Free plan. Pro was $20 a month, or $17 a month on a $200 yearly bill paid up front, at our 4 November check (our price sheet).
With one reported licence and premium sites blocking its crawlers, Claude’s news citations outside the AP feed stay on the unlocked web, on Adweek’s account.
Sources
- Adweek: Anthropic Strikes Its First Licensing Deal, With the AP, for Election Coverage. Checked
- Reuters via AOL: Anthropic to add US voting information to Claude before midterms. Checked
Alexandre S.
Alexandre S. is a creative ad strategist and copywriter with ten years' experience in digital marketing across multiple channels.
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