AI journalism startup Symbolic.ai signs deal with Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp

Newsrooms have been experimenting with AI for several years now but, for the most part, those efforts have been just that: experiments. A relatively unknown startup, Symbolic.ai, wants to change that, and it just signed a major deal with News Corp, the media conglomerate owned by Rupert Murdoch.

News Corp, the major assets of which include MarketWatch, the New York Post, and the WSJ, is set to begin using Symbolic’s AI platform with its financial news hub Dow Jones Newswires.

Symbolic.ai, which was founded by former eBay CEO Devin Wenig and Ars Technica co-founder Jon Stokes, says its AI platform can “assist in the production of quality journalism and content” and that its tool has even led to “productivity gains of as much as 90% for complex research tasks.” The platform is designed to make editorial workflows more efficient, providing improvements in areas like newsletter creation, audio transcription, fact-checking, “headline optimization,” SEO advice, and others.

In general, News Corp has shown a willingness to integrate AI into its media operations. In 2024, the company signed a multi-year partnership with OpenAI, wherein it would license its material to the AI company. Last November, the media conglomerate signaled that it was considering branching out, and licensing its material to other AI companies.