The Independent vs The New Yorker

The Independent's social commerce revenue surpasses SEO

The Independent's social-commerce revenue surpassed its SEO-based revenue for the first time in September, indicating a shift toward social platforms and away from search traffic, which has declined partly due to AI. CEO Christian Broughton declared the old search-and-social model 'dead' and outlined four growth areas: AI, creator-led studio work, e-commerce, and membership, expected to contribute nearly half of 2026 revenue. The company reported £55.1 million in 2025 revenue, up 4%, with profit before tax rising 9% to £3.5 million. Broughton also highlighted AI productivity gains, including the 'Bulletin' news app with 12 million monthly users, the 'Eva' AI feature that reduced bounce rate, and a live news team six times more productive. Meanwhile, Meta's upcoming terms update on October 30 extends AI training scraping rights to all linked websites, criticized as a data grab that may override robots.txt and bypass licensing. In parallel, e-commerce platforms are navigating AI agent integration, with Amazon blocking third-party agents while Walmart and Target partner with OpenAI, and Zillow licensing data to Google for Gemini.

• The Independent's social-commerce revenue surpassed SEO-based revenue for the first time in September.
• CEO Christian Broughton declared the old search-and-social business model 'dead'.
• Meta will extend scraping rights to all websites linked on its platforms starting October 30.

Zelensky calls on Trump to act after Russia violates energy ceasefire

The Independent's news section has been updated with new top stories including Ukraine-Russia conflict, a school stabbing in Poland, NHS prescription changes, and other current events.

Taboola: Tesco Clubcard Readership Surges 1,876%

Taboola's Newsroom data shows UK readership of Tesco Clubcard articles rose 1,876% in the most recent 30-day period versus the prior 30 days, generating more than 335,000 page views across Taboola's UK publisher network (up from ~17,000). The surge is attributed primarily to the impending expiry of £11 million in Clubcard vouchers, which publishers warned would become invalid after 11:59pm on 31 August. Additional drivers cited include the return of Clubcard Challenges, Tesco’s "Know What You’re Sitting On" campaign and promotional activity such as the OVO Clubcard Millionaire prize draw. Taboola communications lead Dave Struzzi commented on publishers' role and the attention the Clubcard brand is generating for Tesco.

• UK readership of Tesco Clubcard articles increased by 1,876% over the last 30 days versus the preceding 30 days.
• Taboola’s Newsroom recorded more than 335,000 page views for Clubcard-related articles across its UK publisher network, up from approximately 17,000 in the previous 30 days.
• The surge was driven by the approaching expiry of £11 million worth of Tesco Clubcard vouchers, which were reported to become invalid after 11:59pm on 31 August.

This Essay Is 10% AI-Generated

An a16z opinion essay (published 2026-08-13) examines cultural reactions to AI-generated writing, arguing that labelling text as “100% AI” functions as a social authorship marker. The piece discusses literary theory (Barthes, Foucault) to frame why authorship matters, highlights detection tools like Pangram and industry moves toward watermarking AI outputs, and describes stylistic tells of LLM-generated prose (token-prediction patterns, pushy qualifiers). The author says none of the words were directly generated by an LLM, but that they iterated ideas with “Sol 5.6” and estimates the piece is roughly 10% AI-influenced.

• a16z published the essay titled "This Essay is 10% AI Generated" on 2026-08-13.
• The essay discusses AI-generated writing, mentions detection tool Pangram, and references recent industry announcements about watermarking model outputs.
• The author references Emily Eakin's book "The Frenchmen; or, My Life in Theory" and a New Yorker review.

Historian Lepore: Tech Firms Replacing Democratic Functions

Historian and New Yorker staff writer Jill Lepore, in an interview tied to her upcoming book The Rise and Fall of the Artificial State, argues that private technology companies are increasingly taking on the functions of democratic government, creating what she calls an "artificial state." Lepore cites examples from advertising (Apple’s 1984 Macintosh ad) to platform governance (Twitter’s evolution into a perceived "town hall" and Facebook’s oversight structures), and recent AI industry moves (Anthropic hiring a moral philosopher to draft a constitution; public comments by Sam Altman) to illustrate how corporate actors are assuming civic roles without democratic consent. She links this trend to science-fiction ideas and warns the artificial state is both incomplete and ultimately unsustainable, urging democratic oversight and public debate over data centers, platform power, and technology governance.

• Jill Lepore is a Harvard historian and New Yorker staff writer and author of the upcoming book The Rise and Fall of the Artificial State.
• Lepore argues private corporations have increasingly taken on functions traditionally performed by nation-states, a phenomenon she calls the "artificial state."
• Examples discussed include Apple’s 1984 Macintosh ad, Twitter’s evolution into a perceived town-hall-like space, and Anthropic hiring a moral philosopher to draft a constitution.