Krux
May 27, 2026
OpenAI Pays Brazilian Publishers It Once Scraped for Free
Published: May 27, 2026 at 12:10 AM
Updated: May 27, 2026 at 12:10 AM
100-word summary
OpenAI signed its first Brazilian media deal with Folha de S.Paulo and UOL, who will now supply journalism to ChatGPT with attribution and source links. The twist: Folha sued OpenAI in 2025 over unauthorized content use. Now both outlets get paid and gain access to ChatGPT Enterprise and OpenAI's API for their own newsrooms. ChatGPT responses citing their work will link directly back to original articles. It's a playbook OpenAI has run elsewhere, turning litigation risk into licensing revenue. The deal signals that Brazilian publishers, like their U.S. counterparts, are betting that appearing in AI answers beats being scraped without credit or compensation.
What happened
OpenAI signed its first Brazilian media deal with Folha de S.Paulo and UOL, who will now supply journalism to ChatGPT with attribution and source links. The twist: Folha sued OpenAI in 2025 over unauthorized content use. Now both outlets get paid and gain access to ChatGPT Enterprise and OpenAI's API for their own newsrooms. ChatGPT responses citing their work will link directly back to original articles. It's a playbook OpenAI has run elsewhere, turning litigation risk into licensing revenue. The deal signals that Brazilian publishers, like their U.S.
Why it matters
counterparts, are betting that appearing in AI answers beats being scraped without credit or compensation.