Publishers Shift to AI Licensing, Lawsuits, and ARPU as Ad Revenue Crumbles
Q2 earnings from The New York Times, News Corp, USA Today and People show traffic slumps tied to AI competition. Each is licensing content to AI firms, suing or blocking the rest, and pivoting to per‑user (ARPU) pricing to claw back revenue. The move reshapes how media monetize in an AI‑first landscape.