On Thursday, Business Insider revealed plans to reduce its total workforce by 21%, citing a new editorial direction and an increased focus on artificial intelligence.
Business Insider restructures to prioritize high-performing content
CEO Barbara Peng explained in an internal message to employees this week that the restructuring will “touch every department” and aims to prioritize high-performing content areas while “scaling back on categories that once performed well on other platforms but no longer drive meaningful readership.”
Eighteen months after Peng first outlined a vision for a smarter editorial future at Business Insider, over 70% of the newsroom now depends on Enterprise ChatGPT for reporting and research. Across today’s newsrooms, AI now helps journalists fact-check, automate research and deliver breaking news more rapidly, typically at a fraction of the cost. The company aims for full adoption as it continues to scale original content and streamline operations.
Original reporting is now a central theme of Business Insider’s future editorial strategy, with greater attention being paid to topics that consistently engage audiences. AI is expected to play a key role in advancing this effort, along with features like the site’s generative AI-powered search and an AI-driven paywall, both of which will continue to evolve.
Adapting to the future: Business Insider’s drive for digital diversity
“Our most loyal readers subscribe, engage and consistently return for specific coverage,” Peng says, adding that hiring and expanded reporting efforts will target these areas. Although Business Insider is moving away from depending solely on site traffic, the outlet reports that each site visit now brings in twice the revenue compared to two years ago.
Business Insider’s turn toward efficiency and cost-cutting is reflective of a trend that is seeing major journalistic outlets curate new strategies for growth in a digital-first era. Not to overlook the steady collapse of print or the fading profitability of cable news, but even digital players are under real pressure to adapt.
The news site is one of several outlets, including CNN, The Washington Post and Vox, that are downsizing in 2025 to focus on the future. These organizations are shifting their strategies to meet audiences on their preferred platforms, rather than requiring audiences to adjust. These strategies go hand in hand with expanding AI adoption, which—while beneficial for data mining, fact-checking and fast news delivery—continues to produce mistakes and inaccuracies.
As a result, experts contend that the AI era demands new roles and guidelines centered on closer supervision and regulation, cautioning that the combination of workforce reductions and AI adoption presents a serious challenge for an industry fundamentally dependent on trust and accountability. As AI journalism expert Tami Hoffman points out to London Metropolitan University, “If a human is not invested in the creation of something… they are likely to just rubber-stamp it. If we get something wrong in the newsroom because of AI, it’s not AI’s responsibility but that of the newsroom, which can be damaged reputationally.”
AI may help lower costs and streamline certain functions in newsrooms, but it is not yet a reliable driver of positive progress or audience engagement on its own. Across various news platforms, organizations like Business Insider have evolved beyond simply providing news updates. Consider The Wall Street Journal’s expansion into podcasting, The New York Times’ annual DealBook Summit, where business leaders and policymakers discuss global economic trends, or Reuters’ initiatives in journalistic training and ethics workshops. These efforts illustrate a simple truth: Today’s journalism goes far beyond the written word.
Business Insider expands brand with new live events platform
Just as audiences have countless tools to stay updated and discuss society’s critical topics, news outlets find themselves challenged to broaden their reach and deepen their impact. Taking a cue from numerous others who have already moved in this direction, Business Insider also announced this week the launch of BI Live: a live events platform aimed at bringing readers closer to the story and evolving the way they discover ideas.
This approach is well-established and has been remarkably effective for numerous journalistic outlets aiming to evolve their brand and bring audiences behind the scenes of news production. Outlets like The Atlantic and The Guardian have embraced live audience events as essential opportunities to showcase transparent journalism. At a time when trust in the media is under constant scrutiny, these events offer a compelling way to rebuild confidence.
If the digital era has brought anything, it is an incredible expansion of communicative diversity—so much so that news has become a medium increasingly difficult to define. Whether this shift inspires optimism or caution, it’s the route Business Insider and others are following to diversify, stay competitive and retain the trust and engagement of their audiences.
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