An AI-driven news platform called WeNews has launched in the Trentino-Alto Adige region, publishing local content without employing any journalists and drawing swift backlash from Italy's press union.
The portal, backed by a publisher based in Hong Kong, aggregates material from publicly available sources and processes it with artificial intelligence. The individuals listed as authors are not registered journalists. The regional journalists' union has raised alarm over the market entry, criticising what it calls the uncredited reproduction of articles from daily newspapers.
In response, the Federazione Nazionale della Stampa Italiana and the regional press union filed a formal complaint with Italy's communications authority Agcom. The case highlights a regulatory gap: Italy's government and parliament have yet to establish rules governing foreign organisations that operate online news portals within the country.