As the most downloaded news app in the United States, NewsBreak is on a mission: to make local news and information more easily accessible and abundantly available so that people everywhere live safer, more vibrant, and truly connected lives. In doing so, we are striving for the highest standards of content.
Along with nearly 200 team members and thousands of publication partners across the country, we are dedicated to creating a dynamic environment that brings high-quality, valuable content to our users that is both credible and transparent. We know that local news and information can support communities and businesses, as well as local journalists – all the more necessary at a time when many local media outlets are struggling to survive or shutting down all together.
Unfortunately, recent news reports have not accurately portrayed NewsBreak and instead have promoted the kind of misleading implications and sensationalism for which the media has sadly become known. Over the last several months, we worked with the reporter to answer questions and provided detailed responses. Despite these efforts, the resulting articles did not include all the facts.
As we told the reporter, NewsBreak is an American company, based in California and serving audiences in the U.S. Any suggestion to the contrary is patently false. Furthermore, accusations that our CEO Dr. Jeff Zheng is un-American are just as misplaced as other attacks on immigrants. Like many tech entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley, Dr. Jeff came to the U.S. to earn a PhD in engineering and then settled in California. He worked extensively at Yahoo! and has been a permanent resident of the U.S. for more than 13 years.
The reporter also wrongly accuses NewsBreak of knowingly publishing false information on its platform and relying heavily on AI technology to produce and summarize content. NewsBreak works hard to deliver the highest standards of reliability, safety, and inclusivity to our users. AI-generated summaries make up less than 1% of total user page views on NewsBreak. Our goal is to continue to innovate and develop this technology responsibly in order to bring local news and information to communities that can most benefit from it.
While this kind of misplaced scrutiny is never welcome, we will not let it distract us from the important work that we are and will continue to do.
We are proud of our people, our users, our publication and business partners, and all that we have accomplished. Our future is bright, as we move forward with reviving local journalism, empowering local businesses, and enhancing the daily lives of people across this country.
