Rupert Murdoch's News Corp signs major deal with AI journalism startup

Rupert Murdoch's News Corp has inked a deal with the unknown AI journalism startup Symbolic.ai to increase journalism productivity.

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Jak Connor

Tech and Science Editor

Published Jan 16, 2026 6:18 PM CST

45-second read time

TL;DR: News Corp has partnered with AI journalism startup Symbolic.ai, founded by Devin Wenig and Jon Stokes, to enhance media workflows with AI-driven tools for research, fact-checking, SEO, and content creation. This collaboration aims to boost productivity and efficiency across News Corp's major media assets.

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Rupert Murdoch's News Corp has signed a deal with Symbolic.ai, a new AI journalism startup that will be joining News Corp's expansive media conglomerate.

Rupert Murdoch's News Corp signs major deal with AI journalism startup 987789879

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Symbolic.ai was founded by former eBay CEO Devin Wenig and Ars Technica co-founder Jon Stokes. According to the creators, Symbolic.ai is capable of assisting journalists in the production of quality journalism and content, and its implementation has led to "productivity gains of as much as 90% for complex research tasks."

The creators say the platform is intended to make workflows more efficient, such as the creation of newsletters, fact-checking, headline optimization, SEO advice, and audio transcription. News Corp hasn't shied away from the emergence of AI, with the company announcing in 2024 that it signed a deal with ChatGPT creator OpenAI for it to license News Corp content.

Then in November last year, News Corp said it was considering expanding the licensing of its content to other AI companies. For those who don't know, News Corp owns major media assets such MarketWatch, the New York Post, The Wall Street Journal, Sky News Australia, The Times, and book publishing company HarperCollins.