BuzzFeed is flying over reports of the Meta deal, and plans to use OpenAI

Jan. 26 (Reuters) – Shares of BuzzFeed Inc (BZFD.O) Thursday jumped on reports of a deal with Meta Platforms Inc (META.O) It plans to use artificial intelligence to customize and enhance the digital media company’s online quizzes and content.

The stock was 19% higher in extended trading, after doubling its value earlier in the day as a Wall Street Journal report said it would use ChatGPT generator OpenAI for its content.

Buzzfeed said, in an emailed response to Reuters, “We’re not using ChatGPT — we’re using the publicly available OpenAI API (application programming interface).”

Earlier in the day, the stock jumped 50% in a separate report from the magazine that said Meta was paying BuzzFeed millions of dollars to bring more creators to Facebook and Instagram.

The agreement reached last year was Its value is estimated at about $10 million and BuzzFeed will help create content for Meta platforms and train content creators to grow their online presence, the report said, citing people familiar with the situation.

Jonah Peretti, CEO of BuzzFeed, said in a note to Staff Review by Reuters.

The stock closed at $2.09 after touching a high of $2.45.

In a sign of interest from retailers, BuzzFeed shares were among the top three requests on the Fidelity platform on Thursday.

Shares of the company, valued at $132 million, are down more than 90% as of Wednesday’s close since it went public in December 2021 through a reverse merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC).

The company said last month that it would cut about 12% of its workforce to curb costs. Its net loss in the third quarter of last year widened to $27 million from $3.6 million.

Additional reporting by Medha Singh and Shreya Narayanan in Bengaluru, with additional reporting by Anika Biswas. Editing by Chingini Ganguly, Sriraj Kaluvella and Devika Syamnath

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