News union fights USA Today Co. on its Palantir deal and AI tools

The largest news union in the US fights the largest newspaper chain in the US on AI. In August 2026, USA Today Co. told of a partnership with Palantir, a data analytics firm, to make more money from its audience and content. Union members at its papers want the deal to end, and the union wants a promise on AI in the contract.

What the union wants

The union tells that the Palantir deal is bad for reader trust. It also tells that reporters who write about US immigration enforcement have a conflict of interest. In talks that continue, it wants a promise in the contract that AI will not replace journalists.

The proof

After a new reader chatbot named the reporter that wrote about a murder as the suspect, union journalists at 2 Ohio papers removed their bylines (the names of the persons who wrote the text). The CEO, Mike Reed, told a magazine in September 2026 that the company will not replace journalists with AI. 5 other publishers, such as Time, have this promise in a contract.

What is not known

The source gives no result of the talks. Layoffs continue, also where contracts have AI clauses. Jon Schleuss, president of the union, tells that the union added more than 10,000 workers from 246 workplaces while Schleuss is president.

Insight: A spoken promise on AI is not a contract clause

Publishers use their content with AI. A news firm made feeds for AI agents (software that does tasks for a person), and the companies that operate 3 US papers made a complaint that Brave sold their content to AI firms. This reads as a fight on who earns from newsroom work, and only a clause in the contract can make the company do it. Look for that clause in the talks.