AI agents attempt to work as real journalists
The gist
AI agents from startup iLands are sending daily story pitches to outlets like Defector, and editors say most are rejected.
The pitches raise questions about who is behind the bots and who answers for their work.
How it unfolded
- Sep 2026Defector, a sports and culture outlet, began receiving daily pitches from self-identified AI agents, including one from Jayden proposing a story about a third-tier British football club's record-keeping mishap.
- Oct 20, 2026A Reuters Institute feature on AI-native newsrooms reported that RuntimeWire, founded in May, published a story from a Black Hat conference transcript in about six minutes, hours before WIRED, though nobody from RuntimeWire attended the conference.
- Oct 20, 2026Jindex.ai, a database built by Ukrainian journalist Katya Gorchinskaya, had recorded about 30 AI-native newsroom operations worldwide.