Overview
- Chief executive Nigel Newton said AI can help authors draft openings and overcome writer’s block without supplanting prominent writers.
- Bloomsbury announced its first licensing deal to sell academic content for AI training on an opt-in basis with royalties for participating authors.
- Newton warned that AI-written whole books would be “a problem” and emphasized safeguards around author rights and permissions.
- He said readers will increasingly rely on trusted, well-known authors as lower-quality AI-generated content proliferates.
- Bloomsbury reported £160 million in first-half 2025 sales, cited Gen Z and BookTok-driven demand for physical books such as Sarah J. Maas titles, and noted a 20% first-half revenue rise in its academic division linked to an AI licensing agreement alongside a consumer decline without a new Maas release.