Politico staff gear up for legal battle with management over AI
The dispute could set a new precedent for AI use in newsrooms.
Image: Politico logo
Politico‘s reporters are preparing to take the battle over AI in the newsroom to court. Wired reports that members of the PEN Guild—the union that represents Politico and its sister site, E&E News—allege that Politico‘s management violated their collective bargaining contract by rolling out AI tools on the site without the union’s knowledge. Per a contract ratified last year, “The company is required to give us 60 days notice of any use of new technology that will materially and substantively impact bargaining unit job duties,” PEN union chair and E&E public health reporter Ariel Wittenberg shared. Now, the guild claims that Politico management introduced AI without giving the union either notice or the chance to bargain in good faith. It also claims that the tools take work away from the site’s human staff.
Politico began its AI rollout last year with a tool that publishes technologically generated live summaries during major events like the DNC and vice presidential debates. This March, it also introduced a feature called Policy Intelligence Assistant that purports to “revolutionize how subscribers engage with policy intelligence.” The catch is that it’s often wrong, Politico staffers claim. During the vice presidential debate, for example, the tool not only inserted phrases that human reporters aren’t allowed to use (like “criminal migrants”) into its summary, but also credited Kamala Harris with actions that should have been attributed to President Joe Biden. Staffers also allege other inaccuracies, such as the Policy Assistant providing a report in 2025 that was written as if Roe v. Wade hadn’t been overturned.