US-based digital news outlet Semafor announced a deal with Microsoft to use AI for helping develop news stories.

As part of the collaboration, Microsoft is sponsoring Semafor’s new product called “Signals”, which offers a breaking news feed written by reporters who rely on AI tools for research. Financial details of the deal are not disclosed, but “the amount of money is ‘substantial’ to Semafor’s business”, Financial Times reports citing its source.

The feed features about a dozen posts a day. Its curators “[are] aided by AI tools that help them search news sources across multiple languages and geographies…”, Semafor writes in the announcement. “When tapping into these AI research tools, our editors then evaluate and verify sources, compose summaries, and clearly cite and link readers to the original information”.

As news outlets are concerned about the impact of generative AI on their business, in recent months major AI companies have stricken deals with multiple publishers like the AP and Axel Springer. Other news companies have chosen a more combative approach, most notably with The New York Times suing Microsoft and OpenAI.

After years of going all in on the subscription model, Substack is experimenting with helping creators sell ads on its platform. The company has implemented “a new pilot program that helps creators on its platform find advertisers and coordinate ad buys”, Axios reports.

As Axios’ Sara Fischer notes, Substack’s experiment with supporting advertising signals “the difficulty in scaling [the] model [that relies on charging the audience directly] for everyone”. Fischer cites prominent journalist and podcaster Jesse Singal, who has received help from Substack in placing ads on his podcast.

Ukrainian investigative outlet Bihus.Info reported that the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) illegally surveilled its team.

Earlier this year a leaked video posted on a little-known website showed Bihus.Info’s camera operators using illegal drugs. The video was shot using a hidden camera at Bihus.Info’s private corporate retreat.

“The news about the surveillance of Bihus.Info came a day after Yurii Nikolov, a prominent journalist known for investigating defense procurement corruption scandals, said he had received a threatening visit to his home by unknown men. Both cases sparked outrage among Ukraine’s journalistic community, which condemned it as pressure against free media”, Kyiv Independent reports.

Bihus.Info, which is renowned for its anti-corruption investigations into government officials and has over a million subscribers on YouTube, conducted its own investigation into who was responsible for the surveillance and pointed at a department of the SBU.

The report caused public uproar; the SBU’s head Vasyl Maliuk condemned the leaking of the video and announced the dismissal of the head of SBU’s department responsible for the surveillance.

Quick links — Three more news stories worth your attention:

Financial Times: Amazon strikes ad data deal with Reach as Google kills off cookies
Euractiv: Serbia court acquits ex-spies jailed for killing journalist
Press Gazette: Politico reshuffles London team after year of headcount and revenue growth

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Semafor’s AI deal with Microsoft, surveillance scandal in Ukraine – weekly news digest