Arena Group CEO Fired Amidst Scandal Surrounding AI-Generated Sports Illustrated Articles

In the wake of the revelation that Sports Illustrated had been publishing articles allegedly authored by artificial intelligence, leading to a controversy involving fake author names and AI-created images, Ross Levinsohn, the CEO of The Arena Group, the magazine’s publisher, has been terminated from his position.

The Arena Group, housing prominent brands such as TheStreet, Parade, and Men’s Journal, officially announced the board of directors’ decision to terminate Ross Levinsohn’s employment. Simultaneously, Manoj Bhargava has been appointed as the interim Chief Executive Officer.

Levinsohn becomes the latest casualty at The Arena Group, following the termination of operations president and COO Andrew Kraft, media president Rob Barrett, and corporate counsel Julie Fenster the previous week.

While the official statement from The Arena Group emphasized the layoffs as measures to enhance operational efficiency and revenue, there is a strong indication that the Sports Illustrated AI scandal significantly influenced these decisions.

The controversy unfolded in November when Futurism exposed a series of fictitious profiles attributed to ‘writers’ whose articles appeared in Sports Illustrated and other publications under The Arena Group. Among these was Drew Ortiz, whose purported biography detailed a love for the outdoors and life on his parents’ farm, though his photo traced back to an AI-generated headshot website, suggesting a nonexistent individual within the Sports Illustrated realm.

Another questionable figure, product reviewer and fitness guru Sora Tanaka, also emerged as a writer with a headshot originating from the same AI website, lacking any verifiable work or social media presence beyond Sports Illustrated. Similar instances of fictitious writers were discovered at TheStreet.

The Arena Group refuted the claims of AI-generated articles, asserting that the content originated from AdVon Commerce, a third-party advertising company. The company denied any AI involvement, stating that AdVon assured them that all the articles were human-written and edited.

In response to the allegations, Arena Group disclosed that AdVon acknowledged certain writers using pen names or pseudonyms in specific articles for author privacy protection. Despite this, The Arena Group decided to sever ties with AdVon and initiated the removal of its content from Arena Group websites, initiating an internal investigation.

The authenticity of the articles in question remains a subject of debate, with skeptics pointing to language patterns as indicative of AI involvement. For instance, an excerpt from the Ortiz piece discussing volleyball seemed to lack the nuanced touch of a human writer. The controversy continues to unfold as investigations progress.