The information ecosystem under siege: AI-generated news sites pass the 3,800 mark

NewsGuard's watchdog has logged an alarming jump in scale, climbing from roughly 700 portals tracked in 2024 to today's 3,859 — an increase of more than 450% according to figures released by ANSA on 16 July. These are platforms that use artificial intelligence to generate a significant share of their content without giving readers the transparency they are owed, a phenomenon that pollutes the information ecosystem with false claims and propaganda.

The geographic spread of these entities reveals striking anomalies: while English dominates with 55% of the total, Italian surfaces unexpectedly in second place, tied with French at 10%. Out of 30 languages monitored, our country therefore looks like fertile ground for unregulated editorial automation.

The risk takes concrete shape in specific cases such as WeNews, an outlet produced entirely by algorithms with a publisher based in Hong Kong yet pitched at readers in Trentino-Alto Adige. ANSA reports a similar case in Umbria as well. Formal irregularities — from the lack of registration to the absence of an editor enrolled in the professional register — prompted the FNSI, the Trentino-Alto Adige journalists' union and undersecretary Alberto Barachini to file complaints with Agcom. It is a pattern that recalls the 2023 investigation into a network of 36 sites based in Bari, all linked to domains registered in the Balearic Islands and signed by a "Rosa Rossi," a name that could not be verified. On that specific occasion, NewsGuard detected telltale chatbot errors across every portal examined.

Beyond the reputational and disinformation harm, the economic impact is tangible: these channels siphon advertising revenue away from legitimate media, exploiting their ability to produce content at almost zero cost. The line between innovation and deception lies in transparency: using AI is not the problem in itself — the problem is concealing its nature and the absence of human filters in verifying sources.

Technology can write, but it cannot take responsibility for what it publishes. Without a human, transparent publisher, it isn't journalism — just algorithmic noise. — Olya