“Could we use AI to basically automate everything you need in a local market other than the journalist and the journalism itself?"
Local journalism has been on the decline for decades as first large newspaper conglomerates bought up local papers and cut coverage and then were futher undercut by internet coverage. Widespread digitization has been able to take out many local newsrooms that have usually required the overhead of a brick-and-mortar building, administrative staffing, and other fixed costs. Journalism is not cheap.
With the rapid development of AI, one might think that this trend will continue. However, Axios founder and CEO Jim VandeHei has other ideas. In March, he declared during a panel being hosted by OpenAI: “AI will save local news."
“Could we use AI to basically automate everything you need in a local market other than the journalist and the journalism itself?" VandeHei told reporters at the Columbia Journalism Review.
The deal with OpenAI and Axios was inked in January 2025, and by the end of 2026, Axios is slated to have local news coverage from the deal in 43 cities. It started with OpenAI bankrolling the startup of 13 Axios Local newsletters and Axios would in turn allow OpenAI to train its models on Axios' coverage. Other outlets have opted to have OpenAI train on their content with paid licensing agreements.
Other details surrounding the deal between Axios and OpenAI have not been revealed, such as how much Axios is getting paid by OpenAI and if the deal precludes Axios from taking legal action against the tech giant.
VandeHei has described himself as an "AI lab rat," and has been unapologetic about using it. Publisher at Axios, Nicholas Johnston, also recently declared that he "reads" everything with AI now instead of using his own brain for reading comprehension.
"AI has become my reading buddy as I've plowed through my summer book list, helping me keep track of plots and characters, unpack themes, and make sense of wordy, old prose," Johnston said in a recent article.
With the CEO and publisher over at Axios embracing AI as part of their work and even their reading habits, moral questions surrounding the use of AI to generate written content with a "byline" next to it may become more prevalent than ever.
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