AI and autonomy: News Corp brings Symbolic.ai into the newsroom
News Corp (NASDAQ: NWSA) has signed a deal with California startup Symbolic.ai to roll AI directly into its publishing workflows. The rollout starts at Dow Jones Newswires and targets the grunt work that slows teams down-research, audio transcription, document review, fact-checking, and SEO support.
Symbolic.ai says its platform can deliver productivity gains up to 90% on complex research tasks. For PR and communications teams, this means editors and reporters at major outlets will move faster, check more sources, and close the gap between your pitch and their publish button.
What this means for PR and communications
Speed increases for newsrooms compress your window to land a story and control messaging. If journalists can analyze, verify, and package content faster, your materials need to be cleaner, more structured, and easier for both humans and machines to parse.
Expect a higher bar on provenance and accuracy. As AI helps surface inconsistencies, weak sourcing or vague claims will get flagged-and passed over-more often.
Key quotes and why they matter
"This represents the most meaningful enterprise engagement to date between an AI application business and a major media/news/publishing organization," said Symbolic.ai CEO Devin Wenig. He called it "a watershed moment for the industry," adding that competitors will need similar approaches to stay competitive.
News Corp CEO Robert Thomson said the Symbolic team shows "a sincere appreciation of provenance" and aims to create products that "enhance, not deface, demean or devalue journalism." Translation: provenance-first workflows are becoming standard. Build your PR assets with that in mind.
Practical steps for comms leaders
- Establish an AI policy and human-in-the-loop review for all external content. Document who approves what, and when.
- Upgrade source hygiene: citations on every claim, links to originals, transcripts for quotes, and clean audit trails.
- Make press kits machine-readable: structured fact sheets, timelines, bios, captions, alt text, and downloadable data.
- Tighten SEO fundamentals: entity clarity (people, brands, tickers), schema, FAQs, and canonical links to reduce confusion.
- Define success metrics: time-to-pitch, pickup rate and quality, correction rate, and average time-to-correction.
- Vendor checklist: data retention, security, model provenance, bias testing, IP indemnification, and audit logs.
- Upskill your team: editors who can run AI checks, analysts who can QA citations, and spokespeople trained for faster cycles.
- Crisis readiness: simulate narratives, monitor AI-amplified errors, and set escalation paths for same-day corrections.
Who's involved
Symbolic.ai is an early-stage startup founded by former eBay CEO Devin Wenig and Ars Technica co-founder Jon Stokes. Until now, it's been relatively low-profile.
News Corp-founded by Rupert Murdoch-owns outlets including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Post, MarketWatch, and Dow Jones & Company. The company has long pushed growth across print, broadcast, and digital, with a well-known conservative editorial slant.
News Corp's broader AI posture
In 2024, News Corp struck a multi-year licensing deal with OpenAI reportedly valued at over US$250 million, granting access to content from flagship publications. Details are public on OpenAI's site: OpenAI-News Corp partnership. The Symbolic.ai engagement shows News Corp moving from experimental pilots to operational use inside newsrooms.
There are real concerns too: potential job displacement and the risk that AI tools could undermine editorial standards if guardrails fail. That's why provenance, disclosures, and correction workflows matter to anyone pitching stories into this system.
Governance questions to ask-now
- How are AI-assisted stories labeled, and where are disclosures placed?
- What's the correction workflow if an AI-assisted process publishes an error?
- How do outlets handle embargoed or confidential materials inside AI tools?
- What are the terms around data retention, model training, and IP?
Murdoch's influence and current moves
Rupert Murdoch, 94, has stepped back from daily operations, with Lachlan Murdoch now in control. The media empire is also valued through Fox Corp Class A (NASDAQ: FOXA), and Murdoch's net worth is about US$24.4 billion.
Murdoch plans to launch The California Post on Jan. 26, a tabloid positioned to challenge liberal media in Los Angeles with local reporting, sports, and gossip. News Corp remains publicly traded but controlled by the Murdoch family via a trust; a September 2025 settlement gives Lachlan sole voting rights going forward.
Controversies remain part of the backdrop. In 2024, Donald Trump filed a US$10 billion defamation lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal over a story alleging he sent Jeffrey Epstein a sexually suggestive birthday letter in 2003 that included a hand-drawn nude sketch-an allegation Trump denies. Murdoch has also drawn criticism for a pro-Israel stance reflected across several outlets, praised by some groups and criticized by others who say Palestinian perspectives are underrepresented.
What to do next
Audit your content pipeline against AI-accelerated newsrooms: sourcing, structure, approvals, and speed. Run a 30-day pilot to test new press kit formats, stronger citations, and faster correction paths-and measure the impact on pickups.
If your team needs structured upskilling on AI workflows for comms, explore role-based programs here: AI courses by job.
For corporate background and investor materials, see News Corp.
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