Meta has announced commercial data licensing agreements with eight leading media outlets, including CNN, Fox News, Le Monde, and USA Today, enabling real-time news Q&A and article links within Meta AI chatbots. The initial content covers global breaking news, entertainment, and local news, allowing users to click on sources directly. Partnerships help publishers gain new traffic.

Scope of the Agreement and Rollout Timeline 

- Initial Media: CNN, Fox News, Fox Sports, Le Monde Group, People Inc., The Daily Caller, The Washington Examiner, USA Today; Meta says it will continue to expand the list  

- Regions: Meta AI is available in over 200 countries. News features will launch first in the U.S., France, the UK, and Canada, expanding to Asia-Pacific and Latin America by Q1 2026  

- Payment Model: Meta pays publishers based on "clicks + impressions." Specific rates are not disclosed but are close to the average for "programmatic news recommendations," significantly higher than the complete payment stoppage in 2022.

Product Form: One Question, Two Paragraphs of Answer + External Link 

- Example: User inputs "Who won the Iowa caucuses?" → Meta AI returns a CNN summary, winner's photo, and a "Read full article" button within 2 seconds  

- All answers include the source logo, support "Save article" for later reading, and sharing via Messenger, forming a "discovery-reading-sharing" loop.

Strategic Intent: Llama4 Reputation Repair + AI Daily Active Users Growth  

- In September this year, Llama4 faced performance criticism from developers; Meta urgently needs "real-time information" highlights to regain developer confidence  

- Internal data shows that after introducing real-time news, Meta AI session duration increased by 18%, and next-day retention improved by 7%. The goal is to exceed 1 billion monthly active users by 2026.

- Competing with Google and Perplexity: Gemini’s real-time search has been integrated into 3 billion devices, and Perplexity has 50 million daily active users. Meta hopes to enter the market through "social distribution" differences, reducing customer acquisition costs.

Publisher Attitudes: Traffic Recovery vs. Platform Dependency 

- Le Monde's Chief Digital Officer said, "As long as the traffic return is higher than the search algorithm, we are willing to try."  

- The American Magazine Association pointed out that Meta's payment is higher than Apple News but lower than Twitter (X) Timeline recommendations. Publishers still worry that "if the platform algorithm changes, traffic could disappear."

Regulation and Privacy: Compliance with EU DMA First  

- The EU Digital Markets Act lists Meta as a "gatekeeper," requiring the news feature to submit an additional "non-discriminatory" audit report. The company has committed to not prioritizing its own content if the keyword and quality are the same.  

- All personal queries are not used to train Llama5, and publishers can request deletion of cached summaries within 24 hours.

Next Steps: Audio and Video, Local News

Meta revealed that in 2026, it will index radio, TV, and TikTok trends in real time and open up a "Local News API" for regional media to access independently. The goal is to partner with 1,000 publishers within three years.

AIbase Perspective