Academic Publishers Sign AI Deals as US Cuts Research Grants (1)

Academic publishers are rushing to sign licensing deals with artificial intelligence companies, carving out a new revenue stream as US research funding cuts dim their outlook.

Informa Plc’s Taylor & Francis signed a $10 million deal with Microsoft Corp. last year to provide the tech giant access to part of its library to train large language models, or LLMs. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc is looking to “monetize academic content through AI deals,” it said in its latest set of results.

The deals provide a boost to earnings for publishing giants. Informa sold $75 million of non-recurring data access in 2024 ...