AI Chatbots Amplify Misinformation from Partisan "Pink Slime" News Sites
NewsGuard's audit found that seven major AI chatbots frequently cite partisan \"pink slime\" websites—which disguise themselves as independent local news—when answering questions about US political candidates and issues, with ChatGPT citing them in over 70% of responses. The chatbots rarely disclosed the political alignment of these sources, potentially amplifying misinformation during the 2026 US midterm elections.
What happened
NewsGuard tested seven major AI chatbots on questions about candidates and issues. Of 168 responses, 48.2% cited partisan "pink slime" websites alongside other sources, and 7.7% cited only pink slime websites, which disguise themselves as independent local news but are funded by political groups.
ChatGPT cited pink slime websites in 70.8% of responses; Copilot and Perplexity each at 54.2%; Claude at 50%; others between 29.2% and 41.7%. In the 168 responses tested, only once did an AI system identify these websites as having partisan alignment.
Pink slime websites present themselves as regular news media but are actually funded by groups with political or ideological purposes and do not disclose their funding sources or political views to readers.
Reported impact
NewsGuard found 1,179 pink slime websites in total, with 21 created this year, exceeding the 937 daily newspapers still operating in the United States according to Northwestern University's Local News Initiative.
These websites confuse readers who may believe they are independent local media, thereby weakening trust between journalists and readers across the political spectrum. Experts warn the phenomenon may further erode public trust in traditional media.
Index analysis
AI chatbots are amplifying partisan content by citing pink slime websites as sources without consistently disclosing their political alignment, potentially increasing their reach and influence during the 2026 U.S. midterm elections.
The right-wing One Nation and left-wing American Independent networks spent at least $801,500 on Facebook and Instagram ads in the first eight months of 2026 to promote their articles, and increased online reach may further influence chatbot responses.
Governance controls
Microsoft's Copilot statement said the system responds based on high-quality search results and encourages users to review sources to verify accuracy. Six other tested AI companies did not respond to requests for comment.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.