Training The Inclusive GPT: Latimer Gains Exclusive Access To Historic Black Newspaper Archive

Latimer, the innovative AI platform named after the African-American inventor Lewis Latimer, has taken a significant step towards making generative AI more inclusive and historically accurate.

The platform announced an exclusive content license agreement with the New York Amsterdam News, one of the nation’s most influential and oldest continuously published Black newspapers.

Historically Accurate Training Data

Amsterdam News has been a pioneering force in Black journalism since 1909.

The newspaper is also known for its innovative approaches and significant milestones, such as being the first Black newspaper unionized in all departments. 

This partnership will utilize the newspaper’s extensive library, dating from 1929 to the present, as a rich and culturally significant database training dataset for Latimer’s Large Language Model (LLM).

“As LLMs evolve, it’s becoming increasingly evident that simply ingesting all the words on the open internet is not the best strategy, especially if the goal is data accuracy and bias free interactions,” Latimer founder and CEO John Pasmore said in a press release.

“LLMs will need high quality training data, which is why we’ve aligned with a respected resource like the Amsterdam News.”

This alliance aims to correct the common inaccuracies and biases found in many AI models regarding Black and Brown cultural data.

Mutually beneficial

The partnership with Latimer represents a mutual benefit for both organizations. 

Latimer secures proprietary data crucial for its mission, while Amsterdam News stays at the forefront of technology, ensuring its content reaches a wider audience. 

Elinor Tatum, CEO and owner of Amsterdam News said: “We look at this as just the first step within a relationship that must evolve, so we can share our content with the widest audience, and, ultimately as a news organization, be compensated for the unique content we continue to create serving America’s largest Black and Brown community as we have done for 114 years.”

Interested consumers can join Latimer’s waitlist ahead of its official launch in January 2024.