AI-generated news site linked to OpenAI’s super PAC raises transparency concerns

An investigation by Model Republic found that Acutus, a digital news site launched on December 29, 2025, operates without a masthead, bylines, or named editors, describing itself as a platform for “expert-sourced journalism” and “independent reporting.” The site has published 94 full-length articles on topics including AI policy, Senate races, pharmacy reform, nuclear energy, crypto regulation, franchising, and skills-based hiring. Public records and code analysis suggest the outlet relies entirely on AI-generated content.

AI content detection tool Pangram, which claims a near-zero false-positive rate, classified 69% of Acutus’ 94 articles as fully AI-generated and another 28% as partially AI-generated. Only three articles were flagged as human-authored. The site’s public JavaScript code reveals an editorial interface with fields labeled “AI Background Context” and “Question Prompts,” used to generate story drafts via buttons labeled “Generate Story Draft” and “Regenerate.”

The site’s API exposes internal editorial workflows, including automated multi-pass reviews scored across categories such as AP style compliance, quote accuracy, source verification, and a metric labeled “acutus.” Each review logs AI-flagged issues, proposed corrections, and timestamps. The median time from first issue resolution to publication was 54 seconds, with publication occurring even when the AI reviewer’s “overall” status read “needs_revision.”

Acutus’ robots.txt file includes liberal permissions for specific AI crawlers, and the site previously hosted a deprecated ai-plugin.json file for ChatGPT integration. An experimental llms.txt file describes the site’s content as following “AP Style and a strict zero-hallucination editorial standard,” despite evidence of AI generation and potential scraping of quotes from previously published web content.

The investigation also found links between Acutus and Targeted Victory, a political firm at the center of OpenAI’s $125 million political operation. Targeted Victory has been tied to funding or promotion of Acutus, raising questions about the intersection of AI-generated media and political influence.