NewsBreak's China Ties and AI Raise Concerns

According to a report, the popular news app NewsBreak is raising security concerns due to its ties with China and allegedly using AI to propagate false information.

NewsBreak, a free news app with the most US downloads, contained a disturbing report about a small-town shooting on Christmas Eve headlined, "Christmas Day Tragedy Strikes Bridgeton, New Jersey, Amid Rising Gun Violence in Small Towns."

In a Facebook post on December 27, Bridgeton, New Jersey, police reportedly stated that the AI-generated story was "entirely false," according to NBC News. According to the police, no such occurrence occurred around Christmas or in recent memory in the region mentioned. The post cast doubt on the "news" outlet's substance.

NewsBreak, based in Mountain View, California, with operations in Beijing and Shanghai, told Reuters it withdrew the item four days after publication. Offering a link to its website, the corporation blamed its content source for spreading erroneous information and promised to correct any errors or community standards breaches quickly.

As local news providers in the US have declined, NewsBreak has emerged as an alternative. The app curates content from major media sites and rewrites local news and press releases using AI. It has over 50 million monthly users.

Is NewsBreak Spreading Misinformation?

Reuters investigated court filings, cease-and-desist communications, and internal business memos and found that NewsBreak's AI technologies have caused at least 40 errors since 2021. On condition of anonymity due to confidentiality agreements, former workers informed Reuters that China handles the app's algorithm engineering.

Moreover, NewsBreak's AI promoted fake news to two community initiatives for low-income people. Food to Power, a Colorado food bank, told NewsBreak that erroneous distribution timing confused and turned away recipients. Harvest912, an Erie nonprofit, complained about inaccurate coverage of its work.

In response, NewsBreak updated the charity stories. According to the business, the inaccurate information on charity websites caused the errors.

NewsBreak, a 2015 Chinese news aggregation app Yidian subsidiary, owns a patent for an "Interest Engine" algorithm. Reuters reviewed a 2022 document that accused NewsBreak of creating bogus bylines to aggregate third-party material despite its US-based and invested status.

For advertising income, NewsBreak targets suburban and rural ladies over 45 with no college degrees.

NewsBreak responded to these concerns by stating that these methods were restricted studies that had ended and that the company was committed to the ethical use of AI.

This issue comes as US President Joe Biden remarked about a possible meddling of China in the upcoming elections.

In a recent interview, President Biden joked that "all the bad guys" seem to prefer former President Donald Trump in the November election, linking China to the election, as reported by The Hill.

US Raised Alarm Over China's Possible Election Intervention

After a diplomatic visit to China in April, Secretary of State Antony Blinken claimed Beijing was trying to influence and even intervene in the US election.

Taiwanese groups revealed a major Chinese disinformation operation during Taiwan's national elections, which ended in January with a pro-US candidate's win. The manipulation of Taiwanese films by generative artificial intelligence could potentially jeopardize the US election.

US intelligence services have warned that foreign countries might use social media to influence elections. After the 2016 election, various investigations uncovered Russia's influence efforts for Donald Trump, including Kremlin-backed social media activities.

In 2020, intelligence authorities said Russia, China, and Iran tried to influence the election, according to Forbes. Foreign influence has mostly targeted Facebook and Twitter, although TikTok has come under suspicion owing to ByteDance's Beijing headquarters.