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A new report uncovers that The Wire by Acutus, a site linked to OpenAI, is allegedly using AI agents to produce news and solicit expert comments, raising concerns over automated bias and industry influence in politics.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
An investigative report from The Midas Project\u2019s Model Republic has alleged that a little-known news site with apparent links to OpenAI is using AI agents to impersonate human reporters while gathering quotes from outside experts. The site, The Wire by Acutus, was launched on 29 December 2025 and appears to have no obvious human bylines, according to the Futurism account of the investigation.<\/p>\n
Model Republic said its checks suggest the bulk of the site\u2019s output is machine-made. Using the AI detector Pangram, it found that 97% of Acutus articles were either fully or partly generated by AI, while publicly accessible code reportedly included prompts and fields designed to feed background material to an AI writer and to suggest interview questions. The site\u2019s RSS feed also appears to describe an automated editorial process in which only one of five steps is handled by a human, with a median turnaround time of 44 seconds.<\/p>\n
The more unusual allegation is that Acutus is not just producing AI-written copy, but also deploying AI to solicit comments from real-world experts. Model Republic said it obtained an email sent to Nathan Calvin, vice-president and general counsel at the advocacy group Encode, from an address identifying the sender as a reporter named Michael Chen. A search turned up no evident human journalist by that name, and the message came from a generic Acutus email account. Code on the site reportedly also referred to an “AI interviewer” and a “reporter agent”.<\/p>\n
The investigation further drew attention to possible political connections. According to Futurism, Acutus stories have been repeatedly promoted on X by Patrick Hynes, president of the Republican public relations firm Novus Public Affairs. Novus works for Targeted Victory, whose chief executive Zac Moffatt also co-founded the pro-AI super PAC Leading the Future. That committee, which has raised more than $125 million, is backed by OpenAI president Greg Brockman and other tech figures, and has said it wants to support candidates favouring AI-friendly policy.<\/p>\n
The editorial line of some Acutus pieces has also raised eyebrows. One article criticised AI safety advocate and journalist John Sherman over remarks about data centres and contacted organisations listed as clients of his consulting business to ask whether they would continue working with him. Even if the suggested OpenAI connection remains circumstantial, the report argues that a publication apparently run by AI, while posing as a conventional newsroom and advancing industry-friendly arguments, marks a further escalation in a debate already fraught with concern over synthetic media, automated persuasion and the boundaries of newsroom automation.<\/p>\n
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