In May, a multibillion-dollar UK-based multinational called Informa announced in a trading update that it had signed a deal with Microsoft involving "access to advanced learning content and data, and a partnership to explore AI expert applications." Informa is the parent company of Taylor & Francis, which publishes a wide range of academic and technical books and journals, so the data in question may include the content of these books and journals.

According to reports published last week, the authors of the content do not appear to have been asked or even informed about the deal. What's more, they say they had no opportunity to opt out of the deal, and will not see any money from it.

Academics are only the latest of several groups of what we might call content creators to take umbrage at having their work ingested by the generative AI models currently racing to hoover up the products of human culture. Newspapers, visual artists and record labels are already taking AI companies to court.

While it's unclear how Informa will react to the rumblings of discontent, the deal is a reminder to authors to be aware of the contractual terms of the publishing agreements they sign.

What's in the Informa deal?

• Read More