Benchmarking Microsoft? Amazon plans to launch an AI content trading platform to assist publishers in "pay-per-use" for large models

Amazon is planning to establish a brand new content marketplace that connects publishers with artificial intelligence developers, providing infrastructure for the monetization of digital content in the AI era.

According to sources familiar with the matter, Amazon has discussed the project with executives in the publishing industry. The core logic of the platform is to establish a standardized trading mechanism that allows publishers to sell content access rights to companies providing AI products. This strategy responds to the core demand of the current publishing industry: As the demand for high-quality data by AI models surges, content creators are seeking to break away from the traditional "one-time buyout" model and instead promote a more sustainable usage-based payment mechanism.

This news comes at a time when the battle over data copyright between tech giants and publishers is reaching a fever pitch. Publishers are generally concerned that the rise of AI chatbots and search summaries will lead to a significant decline in search traffic directed to their websites, thereby eroding advertising revenue. Last week, Microsoft took the lead by launching a service connecting publishers with AI buyers, while Amazon Web Services (AWS) is also set to hold a conference for publishers in New York this Tuesday, where the market widely expects more details about the content trading platform to be disclosed.

Amazon's move is not only a response to Microsoft's previous actions but also a key step in building an AI ecosystem on top of its cloud computing dominance. By integrating AWS's existing cloud infrastructure with the new content licensing mechanism, Amazon aims to dominate this emerging B2B market, providing a two-way solution for AI companies seeking compliant data and publishers looking to diversify their revenue.

Building a "Pay-per-Use" Business Loop

According to a presentation distributed by AWS ahead of the conference in New York on Tuesday, Amazon is attempting to integrate this content marketplace with its core AI toolset. The document indicates that AWS categorizes this marketplace alongside AI products such as Bedrock and Quick Suite, clearly positioning it as a business tool for publishers. This means Amazon is trying to build a closed-loop ecosystem: Publishers host content on the AWS cloud and authorize it to AI companies that are also training or running models on AWS through the same platform.

This aligns with the growing demands of publishers. Currently, many publishers believe that as consumer usage of AI increases, a payment model based on content usage frequency is more sustainable than a simple copyright buyout and can better scale revenue. Cloud service providers like Cloudflare and Akamai are set to begin offering tools in the second half of 2025 to help publishers block AI crawlers from scraping data and assist them in charging AI companies. As a provider of similar services, AWS's CloudFront clearly also has the necessary technical foundation.

In response to related rumors, an Amazon spokesperson stated that the company has established long-term relationships with publishers across multiple areas, including AWS, retail, advertising, AI, and Alexa, and is committed to co-innovation to serve customers, but currently has no specific news to share

Intensifying Battle for Traffic and Copyright

The tense relationship between publishers and tech platforms is escalating. Publishers complain that the rise of generative AI is changing user search habits, with traffic that once directed users to news websites being intercepted. Reports indicate that part of the reason for The Washington Post's layoffs last week was attributed to declining search traffic and the rise of generative AI. Legal conflicts are also escalating; in September last year, Rolling Stone's publisher Penske Media sued Google, accusing it of harming publisher revenues with AI summaries in its search results. Google has filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that it has no obligation to deliver traffic.

Against this backdrop, direct licensing deals have become a means to alleviate conflicts. Amazon has previously signed AI-related licensing agreements with several publishers, including The New York Times. Reports suggest that Amazon pays over $20 million annually to The New York Times to use its news and recipe content in Alexa and for AI model training. Last week, Amazon launched a free chatbot version of the Alexa+ assistant and announced partnerships with over 200 media outlets, including The Washington Post, Forbes, and Time.

Market Challenge: Buyer Demand Remains Uncertain

Despite the acceleration of platform development, the actual liquidity in the market still faces challenges. Several publishing executives have expressed concerns that the actual demand from AI companies on the buyer side of content trading platforms may be insufficient. For example, Microsoft began piloting related markets last year and engaged with publishers like People and Condé Nast. However, to date, the only publicly named content buyer from Microsoft is Yahoo (which launched a new AI search chatbot in late January this year).

Additionally, there are execution challenges on the technical side. To evade payment, some AI bots disguise themselves as human visitors, making it extremely difficult to lock down content and enforce charges.

Microsoft stated that prior to last week's full launch, it tested the market by using relevant content in both the commercial and consumer versions of Microsoft Copilot. Now, with Amazon entering the fray, the competition between the two cloud giants over AI data trading infrastructure will further intensify, and whether they can effectively address technical loopholes and attract enough buyers will be key to the success of this model.