Look for anything that says “Produced and distributed by Snapchill LLC.” You’ll find this under the nutrition facts.
Use the NewsBreak app? Delete it. Here’s why
My husband, Barry, is a total news junkie. He has all the major news apps on his phone. That’s why this story stopped me in my tracks. NewsBreak, the most downloaded news app in the U.S., with more than 50 million readers per month, has strong ties to Communist China.
A Reuters investigation shows the NewsBreak app is also packed with inaccurate stories (including some that appear to be totally made up by AI), content stolen from legit sources and fake bylines. This is bad, people.
Join the party
NewsBreak is a privately owned company with offices in Mountain View, California, along with Beijing and Shanghai. It bills itself as “all things local” for American readers, but one of its primary backers is Beijing-based IDG Capital.
Never heard of it? Let me catch you up. In February, the Pentagon added IDG Capital to a list of Chinese companies said to be working directly with Beijing’s military.
Def not the write stuff
NewsBreak republishes news from sources like Reuters, Fox, the Associated Press and CNN. They used to republish my content and let me tell you, the traffic from it to my website was huge. NewsBreak stopped sharing my stuff when I started writing negatively about apps with ties to China. Coincidence? I don’t think so.
The rest of NewsBreak’s content is “written” by AI, with facts scraped from press releases and sites around the web. All this happens where half their staff works (about 200 people) — in their China-based offices. Their algorithm isn’t just choosing what stories make it in the app, by the way; it’s also influencing the angles of the coverage.
That’s a huge problem. When the parent company has a political agenda (i.e., China wants to destroy our commerce and influence votes), that trickles down into what you read.
When news is the money machine
Like most apps, NewsBreak makes bank by showing you ads. The more often you use the app, the more ads you’ll see — and the more money they make. That means the whole goal is to publish stories that keep you coming back.
That’s where things get messy. Take a story they published in December: “Christmas Day Tragedy Strikes Bridgeton, New Jersey Amid Rising Gun Violence in Small Towns.” Wow, I bet most of us would click on that. The problem? The shooting never happened.
You can download popular movie screenplays to read for free - Here's how
Most of us love watching films and can probably recite a few lines from Hollywood classics. Hardcore movie fans soak up trivia and little-known facts about their production. If you have ever wondered why films have this odd disclaimer, tap or click here to find out.
Just the facts, ma’am: Consensus is an AI search engine for finding gems in research papers. A free account includes unlimited searches. Neat!
AI hallucinations
What happens when AI gets the facts wrong? Here’s the scoop.
What could go wrong? A lot: Soon, Nevada will use Google AI to rule on unemployment benefit cases. The tech will analyze appeal hearing transcripts to clear the backlog of claims human workers can’t keep up with. A human will make the final decision. Here’s hoping AI doesn’t “hallucinate” facts.
Apple Park covers 175 acres in Cupertino, California, and cost around $5 billion to build. Which of these is not true about Apple’s digs? Is it that … A.) There are seven gourmet cafes, B.) It’s powered entirely by wind energy, C.) Steve Jobs didn’t live to see it open, or D.) It has the world’s largest curved glass panels?
See your life in numbers with this addictive website
I love numbers. I’m all about making decisions based on stats, data and facts. Now, that works for business and finances, but how often do you think about the numbers that drive your everyday life?
There are birthdays and anniversaries, sure, but we don’t get much more granular than that. When you do, though, there’s so much interesting data.
🗺️ It’s a joke, OK? Stop sharing the mock electoral maps flooding social media as if they’re facts. The trend is to take a blank map, color it mostly blue or red, and slap a clever line about how either Democrats or Republicans could win the Electoral College. Want in? Here’s a generator to make your own.
Lost my appetite: Viral posts on X claim celebrities like Whoopi Goldberg, Tom Hanks and Robert De Niro are being banned from restaurants. The posts started as satire on Facebook, and now people are sharing “facts.” Don’t be one of them.
☕ Nationwide coffee recall: Over 250 types of canned coffee could contain a deadly botulinum toxin. They’re sold under various coffee roaster names, but you can spot them with a “Produced and distributed by Snapchill LLC” label below the nutritional facts. If you have any, return it to the store for a refund. Full list of affected products here. Java nice day!
🤖 Glimpse into the future: AI has replaced 52% of copywriters, but there’s a new role to fill: Making content sound more human. ChatGPT and others generally sound too formal, choose odd words and invent facts. Writers, all is not lost!
He seemed really animated: Your next interview might be with an avatar (that looks like Harry Potter). AI recruitment company micro1 says customers are using it to screen up to 30,000 candidates a month. My advice: Stick to the facts and your skillset; jokes won’t go far with a bot.
🎮 Score cool points with the kids: Share these fun facts. Microsoft is adding its next “Call of Duty” installment to Xbox Game Pass, moving away from its tradition (paywall link) of only selling it as an independent title. By adding it only to their Game Pass subscription service, once that subscription ends, so, too, does your access to the game. Meanwhile, “Grand Theft Auto VI” is expected to drop in fall 2025.
The first ChatGPT slander lawsuit
What happens when the AI chatbot gets the facts wrong? I share the legal consequences, in one minute.
Social media needs to be held accountable
Does social media share the blame for last weekend’s mass shooting in Buffalo? The governor of New York thinks so. Here are the facts, in 60 seconds.
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