NYT, AFP, and Economist Join SPUR Coalition on AI Use of News
October 13, 2026 - 1:18 pm
Credit: Grigorii Shcheglov on Unsplash
The New York Times, Agence France-Presse, and The Economist have joined a coalition that advocates for AI companies to stop using news without permission, the group stated on Monday.
SPUR Coalition Grows to Over 80 Members
The coalition, known as SPUR Standards for Publisher Usage Rights, has expanded to include over 80 members from more than 20 countries. Founded in February by the BBC, the Financial Times, the Guardian, the Telegraph, and Sky News, with the Associated Press joining later, the group is now joined by:
- The Atlantic
- ITV News
- The Observer
- L’Equipe
- Radio France
- NZZ
- Germany’s publishers’ association BDZV
- Press groups from Japan, Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico
Co-existence of Intellectual Property Protection and Technological Advancement
"Intellectual property protection and technological advancement can and must co-exist," said Rebecca Grossman-Cohen, who leads strategic partnerships at The New York Times.
Instead of licensing content directly, SPUR focuses on creating shared rules and technical tools. This enables publishers to track AI systems' use of their content and receive compensation.
This month, SPUR launched its first standard, providing AI tools and model developers with a method to record when they retrieve, use, cite, or display publisher content. These records are then sent back to the publishers.
Legal Actions and Legislative Pushes
Publishers are actively fighting AI companies in court and in Congress. The New York Times is suing OpenAI and Microsoft over copyright, while USA Today Co and several of its papers filed a lawsuit against OpenAI earlier this month, according to Reuters.
Last month, around 300 publishers urged U.S. lawmakers to ban stealth AI bots that scrape their sites. Meanwhile, the U.S. Justice Department has sided with OpenAI in one case, arguing that training AI on publishers' work can be fair use.
Decline in News Site Traffic
News sites are also facing a decline in visitors as search engines provide AI-driven answers. A Reuters Institute study found that over 2,500 sites saw Google search referrals drop by a third worldwide between November 2024 and November 2025.
By Ana-Maria Stanciuc
Editor-in-Chief, TNW
I am the Editor in Chief for TNW, covering technology not as a parade of launches and valuations, but as a system of influence, persuasion, and change. I write about startups, venture capital, digital policy, and the European ecosystem, focusing on the larger story beneath them: who gets to build the future, who profits from it, and how Europe is learning to speak in a louder voice of its own. Before moving into senior editorial leadership, I've built my career across journalism, storytelling, content strategy, SEO, and digital publishing, with experience in SaaS, hospitality, art, and culture.