Wall Street Journal editorial page editor Paul Gigot stated Tuesday that investor Stanley Druckenmiller did not violate the newspaper’s policies by using artificial intelligence to write a published op-ed. The piece, which appeared on Monday, addressed Druckenmiller’s opposition to a Treasury Department plan regarding debt buybacks. Gigot described the use of AI as a "fact of modern life" that individuals use to assist with research, grammar, and editing.
The disclosure followed comments from Druckenmiller, the CEO of Duquesne Family Office, who told the outlet NOTUS that he "of course" used AI for the article. He compared the use of generative AI to using a calculator for mathematics, stating he uses the technology for all his writing. The Wall Street Journal has not added a disclosure note to the published op-ed, and Gigot maintained that the work reflected the author's "genuine opinion."
The Journal's parent company, NewsCorp, maintains a content licensing agreement with OpenAI and utilizes Google’s Vertex AI platform for various newsroom functions. According to the paper's website, staff use AI for summarizing articles, translating content, and generating audio versions and image descriptions. The policy requires that any work including AI inputs must be reviewed by a journalist prior to publication to ensure accuracy and originality.
The scale of this shift is reflected in the Journal’s internal integration of the technology. The outlet already uses AI to automate tasks like article summaries and audio translations for its global audience. While the specific number of AI-assisted op-eds is not reported, the policy applies to all external contributors. For an individual reader, the change is subtle; they would notice that the prose they read may be polished or structured by software rather than the named author, though the publication asserts the core arguments must still belong to the credited writer.
The knock-on effects involve the standardizing of AI in professional journalism and public discourse. By publicly defending the practice, the Journal establishes a standard that AI is an acceptable "assist" tool rather than a violation of intellectual property or originality standards. This could lead other major news organizations to adopt similar stances or explicit licensing deals, such as the existing agreement between NewsCorp and OpenAI. What happens next depends on whether the Journal or its publisher, Dow Jones, chooses to implement formal disclosure requirements for AI-assisted submissions in the future.