NewsBreak, the most popular news app in the US, is in the news itself for all the wrong reasons as it is reportedly pushing fake stories written by AI.

According to Reuters, the recently ran a headline entitled: “Christmas Day Tragedy Strikes Bridgeton, New Jersey Amid Rising Gun Violence in Small Towns.” There’s just one issue—the story was completely fabricated and the event in question never occurred.

“Nothing even similar to this story occurred on or around Christmas, or even in recent memory for the area they described,” a post by the Bridgeton Police Department said. “It seems this ‘news’ outlet’s AI writes fiction they have no problem publishing to readers.”

According to Reuters, NewsBreak has had at least 40 incidents since 2021 in which its AI-driven misinformation has caused problems for the communities it claims to serve with its news coverage. Some stories have included incorrect information about programs for homeless and disadvantaged individuals, including wrong information about health care provisions.

Former NewsBreak employees that spoke with the outlet said that much of the engineering behind the app’s algorithm is done from its China offices, even though the company is headquartered in California.

There is evidence that NewsBreak has been aware of the issues for some time, with ,” Norm Pearlstine, former Executive Editor at the Wall Street Journal and the Los Angeles Times, writing a memo to NewsBreak CEO Jeff Zheng when he served as a consultant for the company.

“I cannot think of a faster way to destroy the NewsBreak brand,” Pearlstine wrote in the memo about the company’s practice of using AI to re-publish stories from news outlets under fictitious bylines.

“I question the legality of creating fake accounts using content publishers put behind their paywalls. If I had learned about the practice while at the LA Times, I would have instructed our lawyer to seek a restraining order and sue for damages,” Pearlstine told Reuters in an interview.

US lawmakers have grown increasingly worried about misinformation from Chinese companies, a factor in the recent legislation to ban TikTok. In such a climate, one wonders how long NewsBreak will be able to fly under the radar. At the same time, the company is a cautionary tale about the dangers of relying on AI without the proper safeguards and oversight in place.

Reuters full story goes into extraordinary detail, pealing back the layers on NewsBreak, and is well worth a read.