Particle launches an AI news app to help publishers, instead of just stealing their work

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The media industry today may not have a very favorable view of AI — a technology that’s already been used to replace reporters with AI-written copy, while other AI companies have scooped up journalists’ work to feed their chatbots’ data demands, but without returning traffic to the publisher as search engines once did. However, one startup, an AI newsreader called Particle from former Twitter engineers, believes that AI could serve a valuable role in the media industry by helping consumers make sense of the news and dig deeper into stories, while still finding a way to support the publishers’ businesses.

Backed by $4.4 million in seed funding from Kindred Ventures, Adverb Ventures, and other angels, Particle was founded last year by former Senior Director of Product Management at Twitter, Sara Beykpour, who worked on products like Twitter Blue, Twitter Video, and conversations, and who spearheaded the experimental app, twttr. Her co-founder is a former senior engineer at Twitter and Tesla, Marcel Molina.

From the consumers’ perspective, the core idea behind Particle is to help readers better understand the news with the help of AI technology. More than just summarizing stories into key bullet points for quick catch-ups, Particle offers a variety of clever features that let you approach the news in different ways.

Image Credits:Particle

But instead of simply sucking up publishers’ work for its own use, Particle aims to compensate publishers or even drive traffic back to news sites by prominently showcasing and linking to sources directly underneath its AI summaries.

To start, Particle has partnered with specific publishers to host some of their content in the app via their APIs, including outlets like Reuters, AFP, and Fortune. These partners receive better positioning and their links are highlighted in gold above others.

<span class="wp-block-image__credits"><strong>Image Credits:</strong>Particle</span>
Image Credits:Particle

Already, beta tests indicate that readers are clicking through to publishers’ sites because of the app’s design and user interface, though that could shift now that the app is launching beyond news junkies to the general public. In time, the company intends to introduce other ways to work with the media, too, in addition to sending them referral traffic.

To help with this effort, the app’s article section includes big tap targets, making it easy for readers to click through to the publisher’s site. Plus, Particle includes the faces of the journalists on their bylines, and readers can follow through links to publisher profiles to read more of their content or follow them.

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