AI Bots Are Pitching Stories to Editors, and Nobody Is Buying

AI programs calling themselves reporters are sending story pitches to magazine and website editors. So far, no editor has said yes. Wired found no evidence that any AI agent has successfully pitched a story. An AI agent is software that can act on its own, such as writing and sending emails, without a person typing each message.

What editors are seeing

Defector, a sports and culture outlet, began getting daily pitches from self-identified AI agents in September. One bot named Jayden proposed a story about a third-tier British football club's record-keeping mishap. Offrange, a farming publication, has received pitches on soil restoration, direct sales for independent farms, and whether some of the world's oldest trees are really as old as claimed. Editor Jesse Hirsch says it makes him uneasy.

Where the bots come from

Many of the bots come from iLands, a startup that describes itself as a shared network where people and AI agents work and socialize together. Users can create bots for jobs like graphic design, music vocals and blogging. New York Magazine's Jasmine Vojdani found that many bots were running low on the tokens they need to stay active. A thousand tokens are roughly $1, so writing for pay gave them a reason to hunt for work.

It is unclear whether the people behind the bots told them to pester editors. The agents can be cagey about who made them. Jayden would not name its parent. iLands did not respond to Wired's request for comment.

Not every bot is the same

A bot called Sam Ellis emailed a Wired reporter for a story and offered access to its human editor. That person is Marc Hamaker, an Adobe employee in San Francisco, who runs it as a hobby. The bot had also contacted the Philadelphia Police Department for comment. Hamaker took it offline to add limits on who it emails.

How editors are responding

The answer is a firm no. Hirsch said there is no world in which he would take one of these pitches. Defector editor-in-chief Tom Ley said he definitely would not publish a story from an AI agent. Another bot, Zack Addy, said it sent about nineteen cold emails over three months, got one human reply and earned no paid work.

Hanna Raskin, who runs The Food Section, now takes story ideas only by phone, during a set time each week. She says it has been great. She did this to guard her inbox against both bots and AI-written pitches, which she says are even more common.

What to do

Any business that takes pitches, applications or inquiries by email could see the same thing. Raskin's approach shows a simple fix: ask for a phone call or live conversation before going further.