BCCL And OpenAI Sign Partnership On Discovery And Attribution In ChatGPT

BCCL and OpenAI have announced a strategic partnership to help readers in India and elsewhere discover journalism from Bennett, Coleman and Company's publications inside ChatGPT, with attribution and links back to the original reporting.
- Partners: Bennett, Coleman and Co Ltd and OpenAI
- Publications included: The Times of India, The Economic Times and others
- Coverage: live reporting and the content within it
- Mechanism: responses identify the publication and carry a direct link to the original article
- Spokespeople: Mohit Jain, COO and board member at BCCL, and Varun Shetty, VP media partnerships at OpenAI
What The BCCL And OpenAI Deal Actually Changes
When summaries or excerpts from participating BCCL publications are surfaced in response to a relevant question, the answer will name the publication and include a direct link, so a reader can reach the full reporting and its context on BCCL platforms rather than stopping at the summary.
That structure is the point of the agreement. The unresolved problem between publishers and answer engines has never been whether journalism gets used, it is whether the reader ever learns whose journalism it was and whether they can get back to it. Naming the publication and linking to the article is a narrow fix, but it is the specific fix publishers have been asking for.
How Both Sides Framed It
Mohit Jain, chief operating officer and board member at BCCL, tied it to a long standing position on the role of journalism. "For almost two centuries, BCCL has believed that journalism is a public trust, rooted in facts, guided by independent judgment, and sustained by the trust of our readers," he said, describing the partnership as another step in making content accessible to readers wherever they choose to engage with it while preserving the source, context and identity of the original reporting.
Varun Shetty, vice president of media partnerships at OpenAI, was explicit about the intent in India. "BCCL is an important part of how millions of people understand India and the world," he said. "This partnership will help ChatGPT users discover reporting from BCCL's English and Indian-language publications, with clear attribution and direct links to the original articles. We want to build practical, constructive relationships with publishers in India." More industry news.
