Oxford lets OpenAI train its AI models on Bodleian Library

The University of Oxford has allowed the company behind ChatGPT to train its AI models on historical texts from its Bodleian Library, as tech companies scour academic institutions for fresh data.

The Bodleian material digitised by OpenAI has been used to “populate the OpenAI training set”, according to internal documents.

Oxford announced a partnership with the company in March 2025, using OpenAI software to digitise texts from the university’s world-famous library, which it said would make the content more widely available for students and researchers.

However, the announcement did not state the material would be used for training OpenAI’s models, which are trained to recognise patterns in words – and thus “learn” to write complete sentences and perform other cognitive tasks – by being fed vast amounts of data.

An OpenAI spokesperson said the company was “proud” to ensure “the AI models of today preserve the world’s historical knowledge for the future”.

“With more than a billion people using this technology in everyday life, it’s important it reflects different cultures, histories and perspectives,” they added.

Meeting minutes at the University of Oxford, obtained via a freedom of information request, record concerns from staff, including members of the Bodleian governance committee, about the reputational risk of partnering with OpenAI and the effect on the university’s environmental commitments of striking a deal involving an energy-intensive technology.