Google News Initiative Innovation Challenge: Technological Innovation Triggers by Google Grants

The global proliferation and escalating threat posed by major tech corporations, notably Facebook and Google, have engendered considerable scholarly debate. Notably, these corporations have recently made substantial investments in journalistic endeavors to cultivate healthier relationships with news media. On a global scale, Google has channeled substantial sums of money into pioneering technological initiatives, delineating the trajectories of technological advancement through initiatives like the Google News Initiative (GNI) Innovation Challenge and other forms of fiscal and institutional backing extended to news organizations. Grounded in the realms of Innovation Management and Responsible Innovation theories, this chapter scrutinizes the 224 recipients of the inaugural three iterations of the GNI Innovation Challenges across regions including Asia-Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, as well as North America. The findings unveil a substantial portion of the awarded projects centering on innovative news products. Nevertheless, only a scant representation of Responsible Innovation attributes, such as foresight, introspection, and adaptability, is discernible within these projects. In summation, this study advocates for an augmented partnering model characterized by greater transparency and sustainability concerning the allocation of financial and technological resources in collaboration with big tech companies.