The Associated Press will make its trusted economic, sports and race call datasets available to leading blockchains via Chainlink, the world’s largest decentralized network of oracles, enabling smart contracts on any blockchain to securely interact with the AP's real-world data.
By launching a Chainlink node, which securely connects blockchain environments with external data, AP data will be supplied and sold directly to applications running across various blockchains. The data will be cryptographically signed to verify it is from AP.
AP U.S. race calls, economic data, sports game outcomes and business financials will be available.
The data can be used to automate key processes that happen on-chain, including informing markets of election race calls, triggering an on-chain trade when a company’s quarterly financials are released, or augmenting the appearance of non-fungible tokens based on real-world events.
Chainlink makes application programming interfaces (APIs) easily compatible, accessible and monetizable within any blockchain.
“AP has established itself as one of the most trusted independent news organizations in the world for real-time news in all formats. Given its large and continually growing repository of facts and data, combined with Chainlink’s proven oracle infrastructure for providing reliable data feeds across leading blockchain networks, it makes sense for the AP to launch a Chainlink oracle node and support innovation within emerging smart contract industries,” said William Herkelrath, managing director at Chainlink Labs.
The availability of AP’s datasets via Chainlink comes as smart contracts — tamper-proof computer programs that trigger outcomes when certain conditions are met — are growing in popularity, especially in industries like decentralized finance (DeFi) and NFTs.
“Chainlink technology is the ideal way to provide smart contract developers anywhere in the world with direct, on-demand access to AP’s trusted economic, sports, and race call data” said Dwayne Desaulniers, AP director of blockchain and data licensing. “Working with Chainlink allows this information to be compatible with any blockchain. The open-source software is reliable, secure, and widely used across leading blockchain networks.”
This work with Chainlink is a continuation of AP’s industry-leading foray into blockchain-based markets. AP collaborated with Everipedia to publish U.S. race calls on the Ethereum blockchain in 2020. The news agency sold the first media NFT in early 2021 and continues to tokenize news for collectors. Most recently, AP broke new ground by delivering data to feed and inform digital generative artworks.
About AP
The Associated Press is an independent global news organization dedicated to factual reporting. Founded in 1846, AP today remains the most trusted source of fast, accurate, unbiased news in all formats and the essential provider of the technology and services vital to the news business. More than half the world’s population sees AP journalism every day. Online: www.ap.org
Contact
Lauren Easton
Global Director of Media Relations and Corporate Communications
The Associated Press
212-621-7005
leaston@ap.org
Patrick Maks
Media Relations Manager
The Associated Press
212-621-7536
pmaks@ap.org