Apple is in talks to pay news publishers for their content to power an upcoming AI-powered version of Siri — and it is considering a payment model unlike anything the industry has seen from AI companies.

According to a Wall Street Journal report, Apple has approached publishers in recent months about using their content to give Siri access to current news and information. Rather than paying fixed licensing fees — the standard arrangement, which typically buys broad access to content — Apple has proposed a variable compensation model that would pay publishers each time their content is actually used.

The company has reportedly considered a nine-figure budget for the payments.

The report comes as Apple works to dramatically upgrade Siri, years after promising users a smarter, more capable assistant. The revamped "Siri AI" is expected to roll out later this year.

The move puts Apple in a growing crowd of tech companies negotiating with publishers over AI content use. But the pay-as-you-go structure — and the reported size of the budget — has drawn attention in publishing circles, where much of the debate has centered on whether AI companies will compensate newsrooms at all.

Apple did not immediately respond to TechCrunch's request for comment. The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the talks, noted that discussions are ongoing and terms could change.

If the deals go through, they could set a new template for how AI assistants pay for journalism — one where publishers are rewarded for usage rather than bulk licensing, and where the economics of AI-powered news delivery start to resemble the ad-supported web rather than the subscription model.

Sources