Google has launched an AI training programme for small publishers to teach them how to benefit from AI, as the technology continues to reshape how audiences access news. The announcement follows a similar scheme launched by the Mag Seven firm last year, which had targeted bigger players in the industry, with names like Tindle Newspapers and DC Thomson having benefited from the initiative.
AI training for local publishers
This time around, the 2026 UK local media AI programme will invite up to 30 smaller, local publishers to acquire new AI skills. Google is looking for applicants that have been in business for a minimum of twelve months. The small publishers will be invited to take coaching sessions from AI experts, learn solutions from industry peers, and learn how to build and use specific AI tools. The program will also grant them access to specific AI use cases which can be applied to their newsrooms.
Jeremy Clifford, former Yorkshire Post editor, who has been involved in devising the scheme, said: “The first phase of this program saw publishers put in place AI initiatives that helped them to source a new vein of data stories, curate community submitted content, automate the production of digital content”. “With those successes behind us, we are really excited to have the opportunity to work with far more small, local, independent publishers to see what they can do by using AI technology”, he added.
Copyright fears escalate
The move comes as Sky News, the BBC, the FT, the Guardian and the Daily Telegraph formed a coalition back in February, aiming to set a new industry standard for how AI uses news. The Standards for Publishers Usage Rights group, or SPUR, was launched as fears rose around AI scraping and repurposing original journalism without any payment, or indeed permission. The group collectively labelled the dizzying growth of AI as a “global challenge”, inviting other industry peers to join the initiative.
The announcement falls in the wake of mounting evidence that AI tools, such as LLM chatbots, have already altered how audiences access news, often with biased leanings towards different outlets. According to research by the Institute for Public Policy Research, ChatGPT and Google Gemini did not cite the BBC in any responses to news-related queries, for example, despite the former being the UK’s most widely used news source. Sam Altman’s ChatGPT cited the Guardian in 58 per cent of its answers, while almost neglecting the Telegraph, GB News and the Sun.
Meanwhile, according to the report, when Google’s AI Overviews feature appeared in search results, users were almost half as likely to click through to a news website. Roa Powell, senior research fellow at IPPR, said at the time: “When the UK’s most trusted news source can disappear entirely from AI answers, it’s a clear warning sign about who now controls access to information”.
Government U-turn on copyright
Back in March, the public sector walked back plans to allow tech giants to train on copyrighted material by default, following sustained pressure from the UK’s creative sector. The government had initially proposed an ‘opt-out’ model, which would have allowed these companies to train their technology unless rights holders actively blocked access. But artists and media groups bit back, saying the model would weaken their protections, undermining the foundations of the £146bn-worth industry.
“At the end of 2024, the government’s preferred way forward was to enable AI developers to train on copyrighted works, with an opt-out for rightsholders”, tech secretary Liz Kendall said at the time.
