The AI industry’s ongoing struggle to secure legally compliant training data has led to a wave of lawsuits and accusations of copyright infringement. In response, Amazon is reportedly exploring the creation of a marketplace where media publishers can directly license their content to AI companies, offering a potential solution to the legal uncertainties surrounding data sourcing. According to The Information, Amazon has been holding discussions with publishing executives and has shared internal slides outlining plans for a content marketplace ahead of an AWS event for publishers held Tuesday. While Amazon declined to confirm the project, a company spokesperson acknowledged the company’s long-standing collaborations with publishers across multiple divisions—including AWS, Retail, Advertising, AGI, and Alexa—but stated there was “nothing specific to share” at this time. Amazon would not be the first major tech company to pursue this model. Microsoft recently launched its Publisher Content Marketplace (PCM), which it describes as a platform enabling publishers to earn new revenue while providing AI systems with access to high-quality, licensed content. Microsoft emphasized that the PCM offers a transparent and structured approach to licensing, helping publishers maintain control over how their material is used. This shift reflects a broader industry trend: as AI development accelerates, companies are actively seeking legally sound ways to obtain training data. OpenAI, for example, has already entered into licensing agreements with major media organizations such as the Associated Press, Vox Media, News Corp, and The Atlantic. Despite these efforts, the legal landscape remains unsettled, with numerous lawsuits still pending over the use of copyrighted material in AI training. Publishers have also expressed concern about how AI-generated summaries—particularly those displayed by Google in search results—are reducing traffic to their websites. A recent study found that such summaries have had a “devastating” impact on click-through rates, threatening the sustainability of digital news operations. The proposed Amazon marketplace could offer publishers a more scalable and sustainable revenue model. By allowing direct licensing deals with AI developers, the platform could help publishers benefit financially as AI adoption grows, while also providing tech companies with a reliable, lawful source of training data.