"For our newsroom, AI is a tool that helps us simplify and also improve certain steps in the editorial process. It is, however, definitely not a tool that is allowed to take over the core of our work." This was the explanation published last weekend in the Berlin-based newspaper Tagesspiegel, as it hoped to contain a scandal that shook the German media world.

In the same text, the editors laid out their reasoning for taking the drastic decision to stop publishing columns by one of their most famous political commentators until further notice, after it emerged that Stephan-Andreas Casdorff, the newspaper's former publisher and editor-in-chief, had used AI to compose opinion pieces.

The 67-year-old said he was aware of the magnitude of his misconduct: "I have made a huge mistake, damaged the publication's reputation and my own," Casdorff said. "For that I make a heartfelt apology. I used AI in the texts. I should have made that clear and therefore not allowed them to be published."

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The Casdorff case has further fueled an occasionally incendiary debate about the use of artificial intelligence in journalism. A few days earlier it was revealed that a guest op-ed in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) by the state premier of Thuringia, Mario Voigt, was also created with the help of AI. The FAZ said it had only found this out after the piece was published.

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Politico's $50M Peter Thiel Problem
Is Axel Springer CEO's son the 'German JD Vance'?

Gil Duran
25 Mar 2025


Mathias Döpfner, CEO and part-owner of Axel Springer — the German media giant that owns Politico — has developed remarkably close ties to tech billionaire Peter Thiel. His son, Moritz Döpfner, previously served as chief of staff at Thiel Capital, the billionaire’s family office. Now, according to German media, the young Döpfner has started a new venture capital fund – with a $50 million investment from Thiel.

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The misguided criticism backfired — but it made me wonder whether Politico might soon follow the Los Angeles Times and Washington Post in veering toward reactionary politics under pressure from its ownership. The company’s namesake, the late Axel Springer, is remembered by some as “Germany’s Rupert Murdoch.” In 2022, Foreign Policy reported that the company had “a decades-long record of bending journalistic ethics for right-wing causes.” Today, “the Axel Springer media house under Döpfner continues to pursue political agendas and vendettas with the same tenacity as it did decades ago,” according to FP story.

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The elder Döpfner – who “controls nearly half of the multibillion-dollar company personally,” according to Semafor – previously told the Washington Post he has only met Thiel a few times and is not close to him. However, Manager describes Thiel as a “confidant” to the German media baron. No wonder Thiel has invested heavily in his son.

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Unsurprisingly, Döpfner also holds Elon Musk in high regard, telling the Washington Post Musk is “one of the most inspiring people I’ve ever met.”

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