Fox Corp. has recently unveiled its innovative blockchain-based protocol called Verify, aimed at tackling the issue of authenticity and intellectual property protection in the media industry. The Verify protocol serves two primary purposes: to allow media companies to register their content and grant usage rights to artificial intelligence (AI) platforms, and to enable consumers to verify the authenticity of content they come across online.
The company has released a beta version of the Verify Tool, a web-based application that empowers users to authenticate images and article links supposedly originating from Fox sources. This tool can be accessed at verify.fox, while information about the Verify protocol can be found at verifymedia.com.
Given Fox News’ past instances of promoting misinformation, some may find it ironic that the company is now actively working to confirm the authenticity of its content. Last year, Fox News agreed to pay a substantial settlement in a defamation lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems, and now, it faces a second defamation lawsuit from Smartmatic. However, Fox Corp. recognizes the need to safeguard its intellectual property amidst the rise of powerful AI technologies.
Melody Hildebrandt, Fox Corp.’s Chief Technology Officer, emphasized the importance of introducing controls over the utilization of Fox’s content in the AI space. The Verify protocol cryptographically signs individual pieces of content on the blockchain, establishing their origin and history. This enables consumers to independently verify the content’s authenticity and origin. Additionally, Verify serves as a bridge between media companies and AI companies’ Large Language Models, potentially opening up new commercial opportunities for content owners.
Developed in-house by Fox Technology in collaboration with Polygon Labs, Verify leverages advanced search technology and Polygon Labs’ PoS open-source blockchain technology. The Verify source code is freely accessible on GitHub, allowing for modifications and collaborative contributions while being maintained by Fox Corp.
In addition to content authentication, Verify provides AI platforms with a mechanism to license content datasets across multiple publishers, serving as training data and real-time news information for widely-used Large Language Models. This move by Fox coincides with numerous legal battles surrounding unauthorized use of copyrighted material to train AI models.
Through the implementation of blockchain certification and verification tools, Fox and other media companies can safeguard their content and business models while mitigating the risk of unauthorized commercialization. Fox Corp. is optimistic about the potential of the AI economy but emphasizes the importance of participating in it on their terms. The company plans to release a second version of Verify in early 2024, migrating to an application-specific blockchain to reduce costs. Additionally, Fox expects future adoption of Verify by third-party content providers, which is currently under development.
The source of the article is from the blog aovotice.cz