Contrary to assumptions, Axios's partnership with OpenAI is primarily a sponsorship deal. OpenAI provides funding to support expansion into new markets and offers enterprise credits for ChatGPT, but there is no deep, collaborative development of custom AI journalism tools.
Axios is developing proprietary AI tools tailored to specific journalistic tasks. This includes an "Axiomizer" that copy-edits text based on their unique "Smart Brevity" style guide and a tool to automate the tedious process of writing and tracking Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.
Even as a for-profit national company, Axios fosters local reader loyalty through simple, personal touches, like reporters sharing one-line details about their weekend plans. This human connection motivates readers to become paying members voluntarily, simply to support the local journalist.
To avoid the errors of other AI-driven publications, Axios enforces a strict policy that no AI-generated content is published without human review. This principle allows them to leverage AI for scale while ensuring a local reporter with market knowledge vets everything before it reaches the audience.
Instead of isolated reporters, Axios groups cities like Denver, Boulder, and Colorado Springs under one regional editor. This model allows for resource sharing during breaking news, creates regional ad sales packages, and makes it feasible to staff smaller, adjacent markets with a single reporter.
Axios's entire local news division was born from acquiring a single independent outlet: the Charlotte Agenda. Rather than just absorbing its audience, Axios systematically deconstructed its business and editorial model and used it as a template to launch its national network of city newsletters.
Axios uses AI for rote tasks like compiling news roundups and event calendars. This "reporter assist" strategy doesn't replace journalists but removes time-consuming production work, allowing even single-reporter newsrooms in small markets to focus on high-value, original reporting that builds audience trust.
Axios created a central team, "The Hub," to analyze national datasets and create templated stories and visualizations. Local newsletters can then easily insert their city-specific data point, enabling them to publish sophisticated, data-driven content efficiently without individual reporters needing data science skills.