AI Search Engines Fail 60% of Accuracy Tests

TLDR: 8 AI Search Engines were Compared & They’re All Bad at Citing News

A major study of eight AI search tools (including ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Grok) revealed they give wrong answers for 60% of news-related queries, often inventing fake sources or ignoring publisher restrictions. These chatbots failed basic tasks like identifying correct article titles, publishers, and URLs—even when given direct quotes from paywalled or restricted news sites. For example, Grok 3 gave wrong answers 94% of the time, while Perplexity broke National Geographic’s blocking rules to cite its paywalled articles. Shockingly, premium AI tools like Perplexity Pro ($20/month) gave more confidently wrong answers than free versions.

The errors create a double crisis: publishers lose control as AI tools bypass paywalls to scrape blocked content, while users get misled by fabricated citations. Even licensed partnerships with outlets like The Guardian failed to ensure accuracy, with AI often misrepresenting authorized articles. Google’s Gemini bot refused to answer 90% of political questions—including permitted content—showing broader reliability failures. Experts warn these systems create a “dangerous illusion of reliability,” undermining trust in both AI and the publishers they claim to credit.

China Grounds Its AI Champion’s Employees

DeepSeek, China's rising AI star, has been taken under tight government control as a "national treasure" after its impressive R1 model launch in early 2025. Chinese officials are now keeping DeepSeek's employees from leaving the country, with the parent company High-Flyer holding onto their passports. The government has also started checking all potential investors, showing how China is taking direct control of what has become its most valuable tech asset.

The world has reacted quickly after noticing DeepSeek’s developments. South Korea, Taiwan, and Australia have banned DeepSeek from government devices, with the US likely to follow. European countries have set up their own restrictions, while India worries about data privacy. Former President Trump called DeepSeek a "wake-up call" for America. This government takeover shows how determined China is to protect its AI technology as a powerful tool against Western competitors in the growing global tech battle.

America’s Global Trade Deficit is Biggest

The United States tops the world with a massive $1.1 trillion trade deficit in 2023, far ahead of any other nation. This huge gap comes from Americans buying lots of foreign electronics, oil, clothes, and cars. A strong dollar making imports cheaper and rising incomes allowing consumers to buy more foreign products have pushed this deficit even higher. India follows in second place with a $245.5 billion deficit, which is about four times larger than America's when compared to the size of each country's economy. Recently, India's growing appetite for gold during uncertain times and high energy costs have made its trade gap worse.

The United Kingdom holds third place with a $233.1 billion deficit, leading a strong European presence in the top 10 rankings, which includes five European nations overall. Japan presents an interesting case, running at seventh place with a $47.9 billion deficit - despite having trade surpluses with America and some European countries, these gains are wiped out by deficits with oil-rich Middle Eastern nations and Australia. While Japan exports lots of cars and computer chips, its need to import crude oil drags down its trade balance. Türkiye and France round out the top five deficit nations, with gaps of $86.3 billion and $82.3 billion respectively

Spotify's $10B Royalty Boom

Spotify distributed a record $10 billion in music royalties during 2024—10x more than in 2014—with 1,500+ artists earning over $1 million and 12,500+ crossing $100,000 in earnings. The streaming giant credits its "streamshare" model (paying based on market share, not per stream) for tripling royalty-generating artists since 2017. However, artists receive only ~16% of these payouts after labels, publishers, and distributors take cuts. For example, a song earning $100,000 on Spotify leaves the artist with just $16,000 pre-tax.

Despite the headline figures, controversy rages: Grammy-nominated songwriters boycotted Spotify events over $150M in royalty cuts, while lawsuits allege underpayment. Critics highlight that Spotify pays $3 per 1,000 streams—less than half Apple Music’s rate—and lacks transparency in how labels distribute funds. Proposed reforms like the Living Wage for Musicians Act (1¢ per stream) aim to address systemic inequities, but Spotify argues its model fuels industry-wide growth. As artists demand direct payments, the gap between corporate payouts and creator earnings widen

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