NewsBreak
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | News aggregation, Media |
| Founded | 2015 |
| Founder | Jeff Zheng |
| Headquarters | Mountain View, California , United States |
Area served | United States |
Key people | Jeff Zheng (CEO), Harry Shum (Chairman) |
| Products | Mobile application, Website for localized news |
NewsBreak is a localized news aggregation service established in 2015 by Jeff Zheng, who currently holds the position of CEO. The platform provides a mobile application and website that deliver news tailored to specific geographic regions within the United States. Its main office is located in Mountain View, California, with supplementary branches in New York, Beijing, and Shanghai.
Although NewsBreak has expanded its user base and secured substantial investment funding, it has encountered criticism from Reuters and NBC News due to the publication of AI-generated content that has occasionally contained inaccuracies. The company continues to concentrate exclusively on the U.S. market.
History
Founded by Jeff Zheng under the trade name Particle Media, NewsBreak experienced an early divestment from investor Yi Dian Zi Xun in 2019. In 2020, Harry Shum—former executive vice president at Microsoft overseeing AI and Research Groups including Bing and MSN—was appointed chairman.
During its $115 million Series C financing round in 2021, Francisco Partners became an investor and joined NewsBreak’s board of directors. The company’s strategy centers on distributing local news through machine learning technologies.
Erroneous and AI created articles
From 2021 through 2024, Reuters identified at least 40 instances of AI-produced articles on NewsBreak containing errors that impacted local areas. One notable example involved a Colorado food bank that had to deny service due to misinformation about distribution schedules.
After Reuters raised these issues, NewsBreak introduced a disclaimer on its homepage indicating that content "may not always be error-free."
Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi of the House Select Committee on China expressed apprehension regarding the app’s reliance on "opaque algorithms" and AI-generated news production.
Investigations by NBC News revealed several fabricated crime reports on NewsBreak associated with GoFundMe campaigns for fictitious victims, which successfully raised funds. NewsBreak clarified that it neither verifies nor edits user-submitted articles but depends on automated content moderation systems.
Legal matters
In 2021, NewsBreak reached a settlement concerning a copyright infringement lawsuit filed by Emmerich Newspapers for unauthorized republication of material.
The following year, NewsBreak resolved a $1.75 million lawsuit with Patch Media over similar allegations of unauthorized content use without admitting liability.