"Maybe that's 'famous last words' and I'll sound like a Luddite in five years time, but I am worried for them, because until there's a strong value exchange - whether it be revenue or traffic or brand - there isn't a lot that you're getting in return by striking those deals."
"You don't want to give all your content to LLMs because, as soon as you do, you can't take it back,"
"You're also fracturing the relationship between the reader and the publisher brand."
"A lot of brands appreciate that, even if it means sometimes we might say something that is not as favorable for them."
The Economist has chosen not to license its content broadly to large-language model developers, prioritizing protection of referral traffic and the direct connection between readers and the publisher brand. Publishers that strike licensing deals are viewed as risking short-term gains without a clear value exchange in revenue, traffic, or brand benefit. Handing content to LLMs is portrayed as irreversible and likely to fracture reader-publisher relationships. The Economist did accept a sponsorship from Anthropic's Claude for a new video offering while maintaining strict editorial independence and tone. Marketing mix models should be refreshed frequently to balance incremental spend and brand-building.
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