Technology AI, Science and New Things
NewsBreak is the most downloaded news app in the United States – by a longshot. It claims 50 million users, promises to “make #localnews easily accessible” – a significant mission given that local papers have closed down across the US – and publishes stories on everything from the weather to border migration. The problem? It looks all-American but appears to be run from China and publishes stories written using AI. Reuters counted at least 40 that were erroneous – including an entirely made-up piece about a school shooting on Christmas Day. Some were written under false names; others lifted from competitors. NewsBreak faces copyright lawsuits but says it’s using OpenAI’s technology to write stories based on publicly available snippets of articles – not paywalled content. (OpenAI says its policies prohibit using its technology to mislead people). TikTok is facing a forced sale or a ban in the US. Will NewsBreak face the same scrutiny?
