Three U.S. lawmakers have called for more scrutiny of NewsBreak, a popular news aggregation app, after a Reuters report revealed its Chinese origins and the use of artificial intelligence tools that have produced erroneous stories.
The Reuters report highlighted previously undisclosed court documents related to copyright infringement, cease-and-desist emails, and a 2022 company memo that registered concerns about “AI-generated stories.” These sources identified at least 40 instances where NewsBreak’s use of AI tools negatively impacted the communities it aims to serve.
Senator Mark Warner, a Democrat and chair of the Intelligence Committee, expressed grave concerns: “The only thing more terrifying than a company that deals in unchecked, artificially-generated news is one with deep ties to an adversarial foreign government.
This is yet another example of the serious threat posed by technologies from countries of concern. We need a holistic approach to addressing this threat.”
Lawmakers are worried about NewsBreak’s current and past links to Chinese investors and its presence in China, where many of its engineers are based.
Despite this, NewsBreak insists it is an American company. A spokesperson for NewsBreak stated, “NewsBreak is a U.S. company and always has been. Any assertion to the contrary is not true.”
NewsBreak was launched in the U.S. in 2015 as a subsidiary of Yidian, a Chinese news aggregation app. Both companies were founded by Jeff Zheng, NewsBreak’s CEO, and share a U.S. patent registered in 2015 for an “Interest Engine” algorithm.
Yidian was praised by Chinese Communist Party officials in 2017 for its efficiency in disseminating government propaganda. However, Reuters found no evidence that NewsBreak censors or produces news favourable to the Chinese government.
Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi, the top Democrat on the House select committee on China, emphasised the need for transparency: “This report brings to light serious questions about NewsBreak, its historical relationship with an entity that assisted the CCP, and to Chinese state-linked media.
Americans have the right to full transparency about any connections to the CCP from news distributors, especially regarding the use of opaque algorithms and AI tools.”
U.S. Representative Elise Stefanik, a Republican, pointed to IDG Capital’s backing of NewsBreak as a reason for increased scrutiny. “We cannot allow our foreign adversaries access to American citizens’ data to weaponize them against America’s interests,” she said.
NewsBreak is primarily backed by private equity firms Francisco Partners, based in San Francisco, and Beijing-based IDG Capital. In February, IDG Capital was added to a list of Chinese companies allegedly working with Beijing’s military.
IDG Capital denies any association with the Chinese military. Francisco Partners described the Reuters story as “false and misleading” but did not provide documentation to support their claims. NewsBreak has identified Francisco Partners as its primary investor as recently as May 13.
The increased scrutiny from U.S. lawmakers underscores the growing concerns about foreign influence and the integrity of news sources in the age of artificial intelligence.
With Inputs From Reuters
