• by Ray Schultz , May 21, 2023

Buzzfeed, fresh from announcing that its news division is closing, is prepared to lean into AI, judging by comments made last week by CEO Jonah Peretti.

Speaking at an investor’s conference, Peretti predicted that generative AI will “replace the majority of static content,” over the next few years,” and that Buzzfeed views it as a new creativity tool “that will allow us to innovate and collaborate with our clients and partners on a new frontier in media,” according to Futurism.

In addition, “AI will lead to new formats that are “more gamified, more personalized, and more interactive," Peretti said.

This comes just months after Pereti criticized publishers that use AI technology “for cost savings and spamming out a bunch of SEO articles that are lower quality than what a journalist could do.”

However, Peretti stated in a blog post earlier this year that, “If the past 15 years of the internet have been defined by algorithmic feeds that curate and recommend content, the next 15 years will be defined by AI and data helping create, personalize, and animate the content itself.”

Buzzfeed announced in April it would close its news division, leaving HuffPost as its only news brand, while laying off 15% of overall staff.  

Peretti acknowledged that he was responsible for deciding to overinvest in the news unit.