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Top news app in US has Chinese origins and ‘writes fiction’ with the help of AI
LONDON (Reuters) -Last Christmas Eve, NewsBreak, a free app with roots in China that is the most downloaded news app in the United States, published an alarming piece about a small town shooting. NewsBreak, which is headquartered in Mountain View, California and has offices in Beijing and Shanghai, told Reuters it removed the article on December 28, four days after publication. The company said "the inaccurate information originated from the content source," and provided a link to the website, adding: "When NewsBreak identifies any inaccurate content or any violation of our community standards, we take prompt action to remove that content."
It publishes licensed content from major media outlets, including Reuters, Fox, AP and CNN as well as some information obtained by scraping the internet for local news or press releases which it rewrites with the help of AI. Harvest912, a charity in Erie, Pennsylvania emailed NewsBreak about two inaccurate, AI-based news stories which said it was holding a 24-hour foot-care clinic for homeless people, asking the outlet to "cease and desist" erroneous coverage. If I had learned about the practice while at the LA Times, I would have instructed our lawyer to seek a restraining order and sue for damages," wrote Pearlstine, whose six-month consulting role at NewsBreak in 2022 consisted of advising the company about U.S. editorial businesses.
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