The New York Times Uses AI Tools: Key Insights
Discover how The New York Times is integrating AI tools into its newsroom operations, and what this means for the future of journalism.
The integration of artificial intelligence into daily life continues to advance.
One of the most recent businesses that has opted to use AI is the New York Times (NYT), which has begun using AI tools (alongside its policies/principles on AI use).
For anyone who has been following the generative AI conversation closely over the past few years, you will know that the use of AI in journalistic practices is a significant (and controversial) topic.
Here, we will discuss how the NYT plans to adopt AI tools, the functionality of these tools, and the broader implications for the journalism industry.
Key Takeaways (TL;DR)
- AI and the New York Times have a complex history, with the NYT initiating a lawsuit against OpenAI in December 2023 for copyright infringement.
- Yet, the NYT is incorporating AI tools into its editorial process, including a new internal AI tool known as Echo.
- Reportedly, potential use cases for AI at the NYT include optimizing headlines for SEO, creating article summaries, and brainstorming interview questions.
- Transparency around AI use is a key part of the NYT’s approach to AI, with policies and articles clearly highlighting that AI isn’t used to write articles, vetting of information is required by journalists, and journalists are accountable, no matter how that article might be prepared.
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AI & The New York Times Have a Complicated History
Before we dive into the NYT’s AI tool adoption, it is important to provide some context regarding their history with generative AI, most notably OpenAI and Microsoft.
In December 2023, they initiated a landmark lawsuit against the two companies, claiming extensive copyright infringement (learn more about OpenAI and ChatGPT lawsuits).
The main aspect of the NYT and OpenAI lawsuit: NYT alleged that OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Microsoft’s Copilot both used millions of NYT articles to train their large language models, and then the LLMs generated copies that closely mimicked NYT content.
“Defendants’ unlawful use of The Times’s work to create artificial intelligence products that compete with it threatens The Times’s ability to provide that service. Defendants’ generative artificial intelligence (“GenAI”) tools rely on large-language models (“LLMs”) that were built by copying and using millions of The Times’s copyrighted news articles, in-depth investigations, opinion pieces, reviews, how-to guides, and more.” - NYT Complaint Dec. 2023 (page 2)
“Defendants’ Unauthorized Use and Copying of Times Content 82. Microsoft and OpenAI created and distributed reproductions of The Times’s content in several, independent ways in the course of training their LLMs and operating the products that incorporate them.” - NYT Complaint Dec. 2023 (page 24)
U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein recently (March 2025) allowed most of NYT’s claims to proceed (although some of the claims were dismissed) as reported by the Associated Press, which means that, while NYT is now using AI tools more regularly, this case is very much still ongoing.
AI at The New York Times
With that in mind, it might come as a surprise that the NYT is now stating its plans to use AI tools in its content production.
Well, it’s important to understand the context a little more.
While The New York Times has officially embraced artificial intelligence, it isn’t planning on using it to replace its journalists.
“We don’t use A.I. to write articles, and journalists are ultimately responsible for everything that we publish.” - NYT
Instead, the aim is to use tools for productivity as noted by TechCrunch, integrating them thoughtfully across its editorial and product teams.
In essence, it’s adopting AI to keep up with rapid technological shifts, whilst also leading them with responsible guardrails in place.
- For example, reporters are now allowed to use AI to brainstorm interview questions.
- Additionally, the NYT also reportedly released a new internal AI tool for summarizing called Echo.
- Further, the NYT noted that AI may be used to help prepare a first draft of headlines and article summaries.
- The NYT emphasizes that AI use is paired with human oversight and reviews.
The aim is to have a measured approach that can maximize efficiency and creativity, whilst also maintaining the NYT’s reputation as an accurate and trustworthy news outlet.
The NYT’s AI Tool: Echo
Of course, given the NYT’s complex relationship with leading AI tools and its concerns about usage, it should come as no surprise that it has developed its own in-house AI tool, known as Echo.
According to Semafor’s reporting, the tool is designed to assist journalists with various editorial tasks and suggested functionalities include:
- Summarizing (to create summaries of NYT articles)
- Briefings
- Interactive elements
In addition to Echo, Semafor also reported that other AI tools, such as GitHub Copilot, NotebookLM, and Google’s Vertex AI, were approved for a variety of editorial or product development tasks.
Further, the report indicated that potential AI use cases were highlighted for the NYT editorial staff, which included:
- SEO optimization: Suggest search-engine-friendly headlines for visibility.
- Social media content: Creating promotional copy for social platforms.
- Interactive elements: Development of news quizzes, quote cards, and FAQs.
- Editorial assistance: Proposing edits and alternative phrasings.
- Research support: Formulate potential interview questions.
Editorial Guidelines and Ethical Considerations
As you can imagine, the NYT staff have very clear and strict guidelines regarding AI usage.
The NYT permits the use of AI tools for the specific usages highlighted above, but it also has clear guidelines, which include:
- Accountability: The NYT's Principles for Using Generative A․I․ in The Times’s Newsroom emphasizes that journalists are accountable for every piece of content published, no matter how that article was created: “We are always responsible for what we report, however the report is created.”
- Transparency: In keeping with these outlined principles the NYT highlights that transparency around AI uses is essential, highlighting that if it has a substantial role in creating content that it should be disclosed and explained, “We should tell readers how our work was created and, if we make substantial use of generative A.I., explain how we mitigate risks, such as bias or inaccuracy, with human oversight.”
- Human Editorial Review: The same guidelines also note that information generated by AI must be vetted and reviewed by their journalists to check for factual accuracy, as well as reviewed by editors in keeping with their usual editorial process.
Industry Implications
Given the fact that the NYT has been very outspoken about AI tools and the fact that it is an industry-leading news publisher, this has significant industry implications.
It will be interesting to see whether other brands will implement the same rigorous internal regulations if they choose to integrate AI into their editorial processes.
We’ve already seen some major AI blunders in 2025, most notably the AI-generated summer reading list scandal and Deloitte’s AI mistake. A clear reminder of just how important fact-checking and content quality checks are when AI is used.
Final Thoughts
Overall, the integration of AI into top media outlets, like the NYT, highlights the increasing need for transparency around AI usage.
Therefore, tools like the Originality.ai AI detector and fact checker are more important than ever, helping readers understand the context of what they are reading and ensuring that publishers don’t become over-reliant on these rapidly advancing tools.
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