TNL Mediagene Announces Early Success in AI Content Licensing Revenue Model via TollBit Marketplace Integration and Strategic Partnership

-The Company is the first media company in Japan to have integrated 15 of its media brands onto the TollBit platform to monetize AI-driven traffic across its media properties

-TollBit is a platform that enables websites to monetize and protect their content from AI web scraping by acting as a digital "tollbooth" for AI agents and bots, allowing content owners to set rules, charge for access to their data and monitor AI activity

-The TollBit platform provides a transparent and scalable mechanism for content monetization beyond traditional advertising and subscription models in the AI era and is considered the next frontier in content monetization

-The Company has begun generating initial revenue from AI buyers through the integration with the TollBit platform, validating AI content licensing as a viable commercial model for premium digital media

TOKYO and TAIPEI, Dec. 22, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- TNL Mediagene (NASDAQ:TNMG) (the "Company"), a Tokyo-based next-generation digital media and data group in Asia, today announced that it has begun generating revenue through its integration with TollBit's AI licensing marketplace, marking an early validation of AI content licensing as a viable commercial model for premium digital media.

TollBit is the leading platform helping publishers and creators monitor, manage, and monetize AI usage of their content. Websites can use TollBit to monitor bot traffic, identify and block unauthorized AI scraping and automatically bill AI agents for using their content. Publishers can charge AI bots for on-demand access to their content, streamlining the process of licensing content to AI companies and providing a middle ground between allowing bots free access and limiting bot traffic entirely. The platform provides a transparent and scalable mechanism for content monetization beyond traditional advertising and subscription models.

To date, the Company is the first media company in Japan to have integrated 15 of its media brands onto the TollBit platform, enabling AI companies to license content through a structured, compliant framework. Since the integration, the Company has recorded transactions from AI buyers licensing content across its diverse portfolio. While transaction volumes remain modest in these early stages, the activity demonstrates tangible demand from AI companies seeking licensed, high-quality content for RAG citation use or AI agent access. The integration with TollBit enables the Company to monitor, manage, and monetize AI access to its digital content, transforming previously unauthorized scraping traffic into legitimate, revenue-generating licensed use.

"This represents an important proof point for the media industry. AI content licensing is no longer theoretical—it's generating actual transactions and revenue. While we're still in the early stages, seeing real AI buyers purchase licensed content from our diverse portfolio validates our strategy of protecting and monetizing our intellectual property in the AI era," said Richard Lee, Chief Technology Officer.

"As AI continues to reshape the media landscape, we believe content creators must actively participate in defining how their work is used and compensated. Our early traction with TollBit demonstrates that quality content is valuable in the AI ecosystem, and we're committed to exploring additional opportunities to monetize our intellectual property while maintaining editorial integrity," added Joey Chung, Co-Founder & CEO.

"Publishers are still in the early days of understanding how their content is used by AI systems, and this integration is an important step toward bringing clarity and control to that process. The Company's participation in the TollBit marketplace shows how media companies can begin to establish clear rules of engagement. These early signals help the industry learn what responsible AI content partnerships can look like, as well as ensure the Internet economy remains sustainable," said Toshit Panigrahi, Co-Founder & CEO of TollBit.

The Company will continue to monitor performance across the TollBit marketplace and explore additional partnerships and licensing opportunities as the AI content monetization ecosystem matures.

About TollBit

TollBit offers AI agents and bots an easy and compliant way to compensate websites directly for content access.  The platform seeks to address the shifting economics of the AI Internet by ensuring that websites continue to have a sustainable revenue stream from AI visitors. Over 5,000 global publishers use TollBit to help monitor and manage their AI traffic. Follow TollBit on LinkedIn for updates on the emerging AI-powered web.

https://tollbit.com/

About TNL Mediagene

Headquartered in Tokyo, TNL Mediagene was formed in May 2023 through the merger of Taiwan's The News Lens Co. and Japan's Mediagene Inc., two of the region's leading independent digital media groups. The company's operations span original and licensed media brands in Japanese, Chinese, and English, covering topics such as news, business, technology, science, food, sports, and lifestyle. It also offers AI-driven advertising services, marketing technology platforms, e-commerce, and innovative solutions tailored to the needs of advertising agencies. Known for its political neutrality, appeal to younger audiences, and high-quality content, TNL Mediagene has approximately 500 employees across Asia, with offices in Japan, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.

https://www.tnlmediagene.com/

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, that are based on beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to TNL Mediagene. Forward-looking statements generally relate to future events or TNL Mediagene's future financial or operating performance. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the following words: "may," "will," "could," "would," "should," "expect," "intend," "plan," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "project," "potential," "continue," "ongoing," "target," "seek" or the negative or plural of these words, or other similar expressions that are predictions or indicate future events or prospects, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words. Forward-looking statements in this communication include, but are not limited to, statements about TNL Mediagene's future business plan and growth strategies and statements by TNL Mediagene's management. Any statements that refer to expectations, projections or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including strategies or plans, are also forward-looking statements. These statements involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this communication or elsewhere speak only as of the date made. New uncertainties and risks arise from time to time, and it is impossible for TNL Mediagene to predict these events or how they may affect TNL Mediagene. In addition, risks and uncertainties are described in TNL Mediagene's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the risks and uncertainties set forth under the heading "Risk Factors" in TNL Mediagene's Annual Report on Form 20-F filed on April 30, 2025, as may be supplemented or amended by the TNL Mediagene's Reports of a Foreign Private Issuer on Form 6-K. These filings may identify and address other important risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events and results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. TNL Mediagene cannot assure you that the forward-looking statements in this communication will prove to be accurate. There may be additional risks that TNL Mediagene presently does not know or that TNL Mediagene currently does not believe are immaterial that could also cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. In light of the significant uncertainties in these forward-looking statements, you should not regard these statements as a representation or warranty by TNL Mediagene, its directors, officers or employees or any other person. Except as required by applicable law, TNL Mediagene does not have any duty to, and does not intend to, update or revise the forward-looking statements in this communication or elsewhere after the date of this communication. You should, therefore, not rely on these forward-looking statements as representing the views of TNL Mediagene as of any date subsequent to the date of this communication.

 

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