AI Usage at a Glance
Jul 14, 2014
Creative GenPractice documented: From roughly 2012 to 2015, Forbes published short AI-written articles about company earnings on its website, produced by a software platform called Quill, made by a company called Narrative Science. The articles were generated automatically from structured financial data and published under a Narrative Science byline — no human journalist wrote them.
Practice DocumentedView practice →Jan 9, 2015
Creative GenNew evidence: Robot Journalist Finds New Work on Wall Street
Evidence AddedView practice →Jan 3, 2019
Creative GenPractice documented: Since 2018, Forbes has used an in-house AI tool called Bertie to help its writers work faster. Bertie suggests article topics, recommends headlines, surfaces relevant images, and can generate a rough draft of an article that a contributor then rewrites and polishes. It is aimed at Forbes' network of over 2,000 contributors, not the general public.
Practice DocumentedView practice →May 16, 2019
Creative GenNew evidence: All about ‘Bertie’: Overhauling CMS technology at Forbes
Evidence AddedView practice →Feb 16, 2021
RecommendationPractice documented: Since 2021, Forbes has used a platform called ForbesOne to personalize what articles and content each reader sees on Forbes.com. The system analyzes over 600 data points about readers' behavior to predict what they want to read next and serve relevant content — similar to how Netflix recommends shows, but for business journalism.
Practice DocumentedView practice →Oct 26, 2023
RecommendationPractice documented: In October 2023, Forbes launched a generative AI search tool called Adelaide that lets readers ask questions and get summarized answers drawn entirely from Forbes articles. Instead of a list of links, Adelaide gives a conversational response — like asking a knowledgeable colleague who has read everything Forbes has ever published. It was built with Google Cloud and is being rolled out to Forbes' 150 million monthly readers.
Practice DocumentedView practice →Dec 14, 2023
RecommendationNew evidence: How publishers are using AI chatbots to boost engagement
Evidence AddedView practice →Aug 20, 2024
OtherPractice documented: Forbes has taken steps to stop AI companies from using its articles to train their AI systems without permission. It has blocked AI web crawlers from its site, sent a legal cease-and-desist to Perplexity AI after it republished a Forbes exclusive using AI, and joined a group of 14 publishers in a federal copyright lawsuit against AI startup Cohere for allegedly using thousands of Forbes articles without authorization.
Practice DocumentedView practice →Dec 4, 2024
Creative GenPractice documented: A study published in late 2025 found that roughly 15% of all articles published on Forbes Business Council in 2024 were likely written by AI, not humans. Forbes Councils is a paid membership platform where business executives publish their own content — it operates under different editorial oversight than Forbes' core journalism. The study's authors also successfully submitted and published a fully AI-generated article on Forbes Technology Council in July 2025.
Practice DocumentedView practice →Jan 28, 2025
ProductivityPractice documented: Forbes uses Microsoft Copilot and AI-powered help desk assistants internally to assist employees with everyday tasks such as drafting documents, answering IT questions, and streamlining workflows. These tools are not customer-facing — they operate behind the scenes to help Forbes staff work more efficiently.
Practice DocumentedView practice →Jan 28, 2025
RecommendationNew evidence: What Forbes, Dotdash Meredith, BuzzFeed and other publishers are saying about AI in 2025
Evidence AddedView practice →Feb 13, 2025
OtherNew evidence: Publishers sue AI startup Cohere over alleged copyright infringement
Evidence AddedView practice →Jul 14, 2025
OtherPractice documented: In July 2025, Forbes created a new internal group called the AI & Strategic Platforms Group to lead its AI strategy and revenue development. CEO Sherry Phillips also announced that Forbes is developing an "AI Manifesto" — a written framework setting out the company's stance on how AI should be used, what ethical limits apply, and how risks will be managed. As of August 2025, the manifesto had not yet been published.
Practice DocumentedView practice →Aug 21, 2025
OtherNew evidence: Forbes Media’s Sherry Phillips on flight to quality and need for an AI manifesto
Evidence AddedView practice →Nov 14, 2025
Data AnalysisPractice documented: In late 2025, Forbes launched an AI-powered paywall that changes what it shows readers based on how likely they are to subscribe. Casual visitors might see a soft prompt, while frequent readers get a more direct subscription offer. The system is designed to convert more readers into paying subscribers by showing the right message to the right person at the right moment.
Practice DocumentedView practice →Jan 23, 2026
Data AnalysisPractice documented: Starting in early 2026, Forbes began testing a new tool called ForbesPredict that measures how readers feel about specific topics and companies as they browse the site. That emotional data is then fed into Forbes' advertising platform to create new types of ad targeting — for example, targeting readers who feel positively about a particular industry.
Practice DocumentedView practice →Forbes has taken steps to stop AI companies from using its articles to train their AI systems without permission. It has blocked AI web crawlers from its site, sent a legal cease-and-desist to Perplexity AI after it republished a Forbes exclusive using AI, and joined a group of 14 publishers in a federal copyright lawsuit against AI startup Cohere for allegedly using thousands of Forbes articles without authorization.
Forbes Chief Content Officer Randall Lane confirmed that the company uses its robots.txt file — a standard web file that instructs internet crawlers what they may and may not access — to block specific AI training crawlers. In June 2024, Perplexity AI published an AI-generated article that closely replicated a Forbes exclusive investigation, including what Forbes described as lifted fragments. Forbes sent a cease-and-desist letter and declined Perplexity's subsequent offer to join its Publishers Program, stating it undervalued Forbes journalism. In February 2025, Forbes joined 13 other publishers — including Condé Nast, The Atlantic, and The Guardian — in suing Cohere, a Canadian AI startup, for using over 4,000 copyrighted works to train its AI models without authorization. A federal judge denied Cohere's motion to dismiss the case, allowing it to proceed.
A study published in late 2025 found that roughly 15% of all articles published on Forbes Business Council in 2024 were likely written by AI, not humans. Forbes Councils is a paid membership platform where business executives publish their own content — it operates under different editorial oversight than Forbes' core journalism. The study's authors also successfully submitted and published a fully AI-generated article on Forbes Technology Council in July 2025.
From roughly 2012 to 2015, Forbes published short AI-written articles about company earnings on its website, produced by a software platform called Quill, made by a company called Narrative Science. The articles were generated automatically from structured financial data and published under a Narrative Science byline — no human journalist wrote them.
Since 2018, Forbes has used an in-house AI tool called Bertie to help its writers work faster. Bertie suggests article topics, recommends headlines, surfaces relevant images, and can generate a rough draft of an article that a contributor then rewrites and polishes. It is aimed at Forbes' network of over 2,000 contributors, not the general public.
Forbes has taken steps to stop AI companies from using its articles to train their AI systems without permission. It has blocked AI web crawlers from its site, sent a legal cease-and-desist to Perplexity AI after it republished a Forbes exclusive using AI, and joined a group of 14 publishers in a federal copyright lawsuit against AI startup Cohere for allegedly using thousands of Forbes articles without authorization.
In July 2025, Forbes created a new internal group called the AI & Strategic Platforms Group to lead its AI strategy and revenue development. CEO Sherry Phillips also announced that Forbes is developing an "AI Manifesto" — a written framework setting out the company's stance on how AI should be used, what ethical limits apply, and how risks will be managed. As of August 2025, the manifesto had not yet been published.
Forbes' Czech edition built two AI tools with support from Google's News Initiative: one that suggests articles to readers based on what they have been reading, and another that helps the editorial team by automatically analyzing traffic data and suggesting headline ideas. Both tools are designed to help a small team publish more effectively — not to replace journalists.
Forbes uses Microsoft Copilot and AI-powered help desk assistants internally to assist employees with everyday tasks such as drafting documents, answering IT questions, and streamlining workflows. These tools are not customer-facing — they operate behind the scenes to help Forbes staff work more efficiently.
Starting in early 2026, Forbes began testing a new tool called ForbesPredict that measures how readers feel about specific topics and companies as they browse the site. That emotional data is then fed into Forbes' advertising platform to create new types of ad targeting — for example, targeting readers who feel positively about a particular industry.
In late 2025, Forbes launched an AI-powered paywall that changes what it shows readers based on how likely they are to subscribe. Casual visitors might see a soft prompt, while frequent readers get a more direct subscription offer. The system is designed to convert more readers into paying subscribers by showing the right message to the right person at the right moment.
Since 2021, Forbes has used a platform called ForbesOne to personalize what articles and content each reader sees on Forbes.com. The system analyzes over 600 data points about readers' behavior to predict what they want to read next and serve relevant content — similar to how Netflix recommends shows, but for business journalism.
In October 2023, Forbes launched a generative AI search tool called Adelaide that lets readers ask questions and get summarized answers drawn entirely from Forbes articles. Instead of a list of links, Adelaide gives a conversational response — like asking a knowledgeable colleague who has read everything Forbes has ever published. It was built with Google Cloud and is being rolled out to Forbes' 150 million monthly readers.
Have evidence about Forbes's AI practices? Submit a report.
Submit a report →AI Trace is free and nonprofit. Support our work
In July 2025, Forbes created a new internal group called the AI & Strategic Platforms Group to lead its AI strategy and revenue development. CEO Sherry Phillips also announced that Forbes is developing an "AI Manifesto" — a written framework setting out the company's stance on how AI should be used, what ethical limits apply, and how risks will be managed. As of August 2025, the manifesto had not yet been published.
The AI & Strategic Platforms Group is led by Kyle Vinansky, who was promoted to Chief Business and Strategy Officer. Chief Innovation Officer Nina Gould was also appointed to lead Forbes' strategic AI alignment efforts. CEO Phillips described the forthcoming AI Manifesto as a document that will act as a guiding philosophy for AI implementation across the organization, covering ethics, risk, and compliance. An industry observer at The Drum noted that no other major media company had publicly committed to creating such a document at the time of reporting. The manifesto had not been published as of the latest available information (August 2025).
A study published in late 2025 found that roughly 15% of all articles published on Forbes Business Council in 2024 were likely written by AI, not humans. Forbes Councils is a paid membership platform where business executives publish their own content — it operates under different editorial oversight than Forbes' core journalism. The study's authors also successfully submitted and published a fully AI-generated article on Forbes Technology Council in July 2025.
Originality.ai analyzed 19,004 Forbes Business Council posts published between May 2019 and August 2025 and found 587 out of approximately 3,952 articles published in 2024 were likely AI-generated — up from 12% in 2023. A concentrated group of heavy AI users (roughly 22% of AI-using contributors who used it three or more times) accounted for approximately 53% of the likely AI content. Originality.ai CEO Jon Gillham successfully submitted and published a fully ChatGPT-generated article on Forbes Technology Council under his own name in July 2025, suggesting limited AI detection screening on the platform at that time. The rate of likely AI content declined in 2025, which may indicate Forbes implemented some countermeasures, though this has not been confirmed. Important caveats: AI detection software carries known false positive rates, and Forbes Councils is a paid self-publishing platform — members pay for access to publish — and operates separately from Forbes' independent editorial newsroom.
