TechCrunch and Business Insider Eliminate Articles Written by ’Robot Freelancer’ | United States Headlines

Multiple news organizations have removed articles written by a freelance journalist who is now suspected of generating them using artificial intelligence (AI). On Thursday, Press Gazette reported that at least six publications, including Wired and Business Insider, have taken down articles in recent months after it was discovered that the stories — written under the name Margaux Blanchard — were AI-generated. Wired published a story in May titled “They Fell in Love Playing Minecraft. Then the Game Became Their Wedding Venue,” which was later removed after Wired editorial leadership determined it did not meet their editorial standards. The story cited a “Jessica Hu,” an alleged 34-year-old ordained officiant based in Chicago, who reportedly specialized in ceremonies across Twitch, Discord, and VRChat. Both Press Gazette and the Guardian were unable to verify the identity of Hu. Press Gazette also reported that in April, Business Insider published two essays by Blanchard, which were later removed after Press Gazette alerted the outlet to the authenticity of the author. In a statement to the Guardian, a Business Insider spokesperson said they have removed the articles and bolstered their verification protocols. The Guardian has contacted Wired for comment. Press Gazette was first alerted to the inauthenticity of Blanchard’s articles by Jacob Furedi, the editor of a new magazine called Dispatch. Furedi received a pitch from Blanchard about Gravemont, a decommissioned mining town in Colorado that has been repurposed as a secretive training ground for death investigation. Furedi noticed that the pitch sounded like it was generated by ChatGPT and could not find details about Gravemont. Upon being asked how she discovered the town, Blanchard replied that she heard about it while interviewing a retired forensic pathologist for an unrelated piece. Furedi accused Blanchard of publishing false stories, to which she has not responded. This incident follows a May error when the Chicago Sun-Times’ Sunday paper ran a syndicated section with a fake reading list generated by AI.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/21/ai-author-articles-wired-business-insider