Canadian Press reporting found that We News, a site fronted by AI-generated "journalists" such as editor-in-chief "Gordon Halloway" and Quebec correspondent "Geneviève Tremblay," repackages reporting from CBC, CTV and The Canadian Press across more than 100 Canadian cities. Articles under Tremblay's byline were AI rewrites of existing news reports, according to the Canadian Press analysis. Google has since removed We News from its search results but would not say why.
What the Canadian Press found
We News presents synthetic staff as working reporters. The reporting describes the output as rewrites of coverage already published by established Canadian outlets, not original journalism. The site claims to be based in Hong Kong, according to CKOM's copy of the Canadian Press report. The CTV News version, published October 3, notes that Tremblay was producing multiple stories a day.
A separate case: "Daniel Robson"
The report also covers "Daniel Robson," a contributor whose articles Canadian websites took down in late September after he was found not to be a real person. It is a different operation from We News. Policy Options editor-in-chief Les Perreaux raised the alarm after a Turkish journalist could not verify Robson's identity. Perreaux said the moment his "heart sank" was when the journalist reported that Robson refused a video call. He said the bigger ethical problem was "the deception where there was a human behind this, pretending to be someone he's not," not the use of AI itself. CBC News covered that case separately.
Why it is hard to stop
Researchers quoted by Canadian Press say the economics favour the copiers.
Ahmed Al-Rawi of Simon Fraser University said such sites monetize "the hard work of real journalists."
Chris Arsenault of Western University said regulation is difficult because "you can get a free or very cheap AI model...and you can always find somebody to host it."
Jon Gillham, CEO of AI-detection company Originality.ai, warned that "sites like this one run the risk of degrading the trust in the news."
Government and industry response
AI Minister Evan Solomon's office said: "Canadians should not be deceived by content that impersonates journalists." News Media Canada is calling for stronger copyright protections, but its president Paul Deegan acknowledged that lawsuits are "expensive" and "take a long time."
Google removed We News from search results but declined to confirm whether that followed the news coverage.
Why it matters for business readers
For publishers, the cost of producing a rewrite is now close to zero, while the cost of proving copying is high. Because the operators can be anywhere (We News says Hong Kong), lawsuits and takedowns are slow tools. For brands and advertisers, this raises a practical question about where ads and sponsorships appear. We covered an earlier We News case in our Nunavut story.
FAQ
What is We News?
A website that uses AI-generated personas, such as "Gordon Halloway" and "Geneviève Tremblay," to rewrite news from outlets including CBC, CTV and The Canadian Press across more than 100 Canadian cities, per Canadian Press.
Is We News the same as the Daniel Robson case?
No. Robson was a fake contributor whose articles Canadian websites took down in late September. The two cases were reported together, but they involve different operations.
Has Google removed We News?
Yes. Canadian Press reports Google removed We News from search results but declined to confirm whether coverage prompted the action.