Sports Illustrated boss Ross Levinsohn fired weeks after AI scandal

Author: Editors Desk Source: BBC News:

December 12, 2023 at 15:51

Getty Images / Sports Illustrated CEO Ross Levinsohn has been fired, following backlash against the magazine for allegedly publishing AI-generated articles

The CEO of The Arena Group, owner of Sports Illustrated, has been fired just weeks after the magazine was accused of publishing articles generated by artificial intelligence.

Ross Levinsohn was terminated "to improve the operational efficiency and revenue" of the company, Arena Group said in a statement.

It comes amid a wider purge of a number of senior executives at the company since the scandal broke.

Manoj Bhargava will take over as CEO.

But a spokesperson for Mr Bhargava - founder of the 5-Hour Energy drink - told the BBC that Mr Levinsohn's removal "had absolutely nothing to do with the AI issue at all".

He insisted that the move was about ongoing efforts to improve the company. But it comes after the Arena Group fired three of its major executives last week, including chief operating officer Andrew Kraft, media president Rob Barrett and corporate counsel Julie Fenster.

The announcement comes a month after tech news outlet Futurism revealed Sports Illustrated had published several articles with fake author names and headshots from an AI-generated image website.

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