OpenAI pays digital media company Dotdash Meredith at least $16 million a year to license its content, according to public financial documents reviewed by Adweek. I already knew about this growing partnershipbut we didn’t have a financial figure. Now we do.

The actual payout could rise above $16 million per year because it only reflects the “fixed” component of the payout. The “variable” component will be calculated in the future, according to a recent earnings call led by the COO of Dotdash’s parent company Meredith, IAC.

“If you look at Q3 2024, licensing revenue is up about $4.1 million year-over-year. Most of this would be driven by the OpenAI license,” said CFO Chris Halpin. “So that’s — on a quarterly basis — a good proxy for the revenue that we’re recognizing. And then the variable components will be calculated and recognized in the future.”

Dotdash Meredith will license its content to OpenAI to train ChatGPT, but the publisher will also use the company’s AI models to augment its internal ad targeting tool. As part of this arrangement, ChatGPT will display content and links attributed to various publications under the Dotdash Meredith umbrella.

These publications include things you’ve probably already read, such as Food and gainit is InStyle, Better Homes and Gardens Lifewire and Investopediaamong others. Dotdash Meredith owns and publishes the eco-conscious site Treehugger and us everyone knows how great AI is for the environment.

As a side note, I have written for several Dotdash Meredith publications over the years. Can a humble copywriter taste that $16 million, please? Actually, it doesn’t matter. The huge payouts are for the overpaid executives and not the people who make the thing people click on. Silly of me.

Plus, at least OpenAI is paying some companies to use content now. The entity was sued by everyone from The New York Times TO comedians like Sarah Silvermanall accusing him of using content without permission or payment of any kind.

Dotdash Meredith is just the latest publisher to offer its content to AI companies to help create our shared glorious future where no one does anything but confuse messages on social media. The Financial Times entered into a similar arrangement with OpenAI. HarperCollins book publisher he also gets into the action.