News Corp’s AI Gamble: Can Symbolic.ai Deliver 90% Productivity Gains Without Hollowing Out Journalism?

News Corp is trading its 'AI experiment' label for a multi-million-dollar partnership with Symbolic.ai, a startup claiming its tools can boost journalist productivity by up to 90%.

The deal will integrate Symbolic.ai’s platform across News Corp’s Dow Jones Newswires financial news hub, where features like audio transcription, fact-checking, and SEO advice will be deployed to streamline workflows.

The platform’s stated benefits include “Productivity gains of as much as 90% for complex research tasks,” according to Symbolic.ai

However, the real-world effectiveness of such claims remains unproven, particularly in contexts requiring nuanced judgment—such as distinguishing between market data accuracy and editorial tone.

News Corp’s partnership follows its 2024 licensing deal with OpenAI, signaling a broader strategy to embed AI into content creation. Symbolic.ai, founded by ex-eBay CEO Devin Wenig and Ars Technica co-founder Jon Stokes, positions itself as a bridge between enterprise efficiency and journalistic integrity.

Yet critics argue that tools optimizing for speed may inadvertently prioritize algorithmic outputs over human insight.

The platform’s limitations—such as potential failures in contextual understanding or SEO tool inaccuracies—raise questions about whether software can truly enhance, rather than erode, the core of journalism.