Here are the news outlets that got AI right in 2025 — and the ones that got it very, very wrong
I hoped 2025 would bring clarity about how generative artificial intelligence would change the media. It didn’t.
There was no “deepfake apocalypse,” only the steady flow of AI slop onto our social media feeds. AI companies signed licensing deals with news organizations, but lawsuits between the two parties remain unresolved. And newsrooms continued their cycle of loud failures and quiet experimentation with the technology.
Two stories this year did come pretty close to helping me understand AI’s impact. One was The Washington Post’s relentless AI rollout of AI-driven products. The other was the Walt Disney Company’s threats against — and eventual $1 billion agreement with — OpenAI to allow Mickey Mouse, Luke Skywalker and Simba to be AI-slopified in Sora.
Related Knowledge Center: Artificial intelligence
On top of a failing business model, newsrooms must navigate the powerful — and not fully reliable — new capabilities of artificial intelligence and the deployment of large language models.
State of the business model | Copyright and intellectual property