Fox Launches Blockchain Platform to Track Media Sources

The Twenty-First Century Fox Inc. headquarters in Manhattan, N.Y, on April 19, 2023. (Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images)

Fox Corp., one of the largest U.S.-based media companies, has launched a blockchain platform that will allow firms to track how their content is being used online and users to verify the source of what they see.

The Verify platform, developed in conjunction with blockchain company Polygon Labs, aims to be a game changer for online media, allowing users to verify content history and original sources through an open-source protocol. In theory, it will operate as an internet database of media content that’s cryptographically signed to establish the content’s origin and history.

Verify will address a problem that “needs to be met head on,” because at the moment, “there haven’t been many real-world solutions that prove the provenance of any given piece of content,” Polygon Labs said in a Jan. 9 statement. However, Verify doesn’t appear to authenticate the accuracy of the content itself, just the original source.

“Though advances in AI have developed at a breathtaking pace, one downside of these platforms has been the rise of AI-generated media, from articles to audio to images, distinguishing truth from lies is difficult,” the blockchain company said.

“With this technology, readers will know for sure that an article or image that purportedly comes from a publisher in fact originated at the source.”

Additionally, Verify can establish a technical bridge between media companies and artificial intelligence (AI) platforms. If the platform works as advertised, media companies can register content on the platform to verify it’s theirs. Once the content is verified, usage rights can be granted to AI platforms that want to use the content to train language models that support apps such as ChatGPT. Fox and whoever else uses the platform could use it to negotiate licensing deals for content with AI companies.

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“As AI-generated text and images flow more widely online, Verify will be able to help consumers not only identify the veritable source of content, but also give media publishers more control over relationships with AI platforms scraping the web,” Polygon Labs said.

Fox privately launched a beta version of the Verify protocol in August 2023, Fox Chief Information Security Officer Melody Hildebrandt said in a statement. The company began uploading content to the database during Fox News’ first Republican primary presidential debate last year.

Since then, more than 80,000 pieces of content have been assigned to the system, from Fox News, Fox Business, Fox Sports, and Fox’s local television stations.

Eventually, the plan will be to put all Fox content through the Verify protocol, including Fox’s entertainment content.

AI a Growing Concern for World Leaders

The use of AI has been flagged as a growing concern by both governments and tech leaders since ChatGPT became available for public use on Nov. 30, 2022. ChatGPT is a chatbot, or a computer program that simulates and processes human conversation, both written and spoken.

AI-generated deepfakes have been flagged as particularly concerning. The video tech creates computer-generated images often indistinguishable from actual footage. Deepfakes have already been used in the film industry for de-aging actors.

An illustration photo shows a phone screen displaying a statement from the head of security policy at Meta with a fake video (R) of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy calling on his soldiers to lay down their weapons shown in the background, in Washington on Jan. 30, 2023. (Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images)

There’s also a darker side to the tech, which can be used to manipulate events on a global scale. A fake and heavily manipulated video depicting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy telling his soldiers to lay down their weapons and surrender in the war with Russia was circulated in 2022.

The video was debunked very quickly but could have still had serious consequences for the Ukrainian war effort. Russian military forces could have gained an enormous advantage that might have changed the war in Eastern Europe.

Companies Scramble to Deal With AI’s Rise

Most major tech companies plan to develop AI products and services or have already released them. Microsoft, Amazon, and Google are among the most prominent. Because the tech is relatively new, it remains to be seen what safeguards to prevent misuse, if any, will be in place.

Microsoft and AI company OpenAI are being sued by nonfiction authors who allege the tech companies trained the ChatGPT tool to copy their work without consent. Microsoft and OpenAI announced a partnership last year, following several years of investment in the AI company by Microsoft.

In December 2023, The New York Times also filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft, alleging unauthorized use of its content for training AI chatbots.

At the same time, for most of 2023, the Writers Guild of America, the Screen Actors Guild, and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists were on strike over concerns that AI tools would be used to replace real people and decimate the industry.

Some major social media companies have already taken action to control the use of AI in the short term.

Meta, the company that owns Facebook, has taken steps to rein in the use of AI during the 2024 presidential election. The tech giant has barred political campaigns and advertisers in regulated industries from using its new generative AI advertising products.

YouTube also has announced plans to introduce updates that will inform viewers when the content they’re seeing is created using AI.