Universal Music Group logo is seen displayed in this illustration taken, May 3, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
There is now a new startup, ProRata.ai, developing promising technology that would help generative AI platforms keep tabs on the usage of content and pay copyright holders. The company announced a strategic partnership with Universal Music Group.
ProRata closed $25 million in funding from some of the world’s leading investors, including Revolution Ventures and Mayfield, to further develop and commercialize its proprietary attribution techniques. It is headed by Bill Gross, one of the most well-known tech entrepreneurs in the world, having invented pay-per-click ads as CEO of ProRata.
ProRata’s technology involves analyzing AI outputs to determine the value and proportional contribution of source content. The system issues “scores” to ascertain specific attributions before revenues are shared on a per-user basis with content providers. This approach hopes to monetize, equitably, creations at every instance when their works are used on any AI system.
The startup will make the attribution capability available via a subscription-based AI chatbot, launching later this year. Revenues generated will then be distributed to partnering media firms in proportion to the measurements chalked out by ProRata.
Already, UMG and other big players including The Financial Times, The Atlantic, and Fortune have licensed parts of their archives to ProRata. It’s in further talks with over 100 publishers and authors.
Gross said dominant AI models currently “shoplift” material without paying any royalties to creators. By appropriately logging inputs, ProRata’s model sets principles of transparency, permissions, and equitable treatment for all involved.
UMG Chairman Sir Lucian Grainge showed enthusiasm for ProRata’s vision to align emerging technologies with upholding copyrights and creativity. The companies will discuss synergies in applying these methods across music and entertainment domains.
ProRata thus aims to drive increased quality information services by equitably rewarding original reporting and subject expertise. Its solutions offer accountability combined with enriched user experiences, all fueled by quality-assured content. This could eventually become common practice across industries.
