"I had to re-engage and do all the stuff that I knew how to do: make a story big in the old-fashioned way, he says, partly referring to The Onion's attempt to buy Infowars, the conspiracy website run by Alex Jones, who was ordered to pay $1.5 billion to the families of children killed in the Sandy Hook school shooting after repeatedly denying the incident occurred."
"If you can't make fun of the over valuations of AI companies and the people who are running them, you're not painting the whole picture of what's going on. We're clearly in a bubble, and we have to make fun of them. One of my favorite headlines from The Onion is Guy who sucks at being a person sees huge potential in AI, and I think that's how everybody feels about this stuff right now."
Ben Collins is CEO of The Onion, a leading U.S. satirical outlet. Collins spent over a decade as a tech journalist focused on disinformation and conspiracies. In 2024 Collins relaunched The Onion's print edition, discontinued in 2013; the monthly paper has over 50,000 subscribers and is the outlet's main revenue source. U.S. elections prompted renewed engagement to amplify stories by traditional means, including an attempt to buy Infowars. The position entails taking compelling headlines or stories and ensuring wide visibility. Satire is used to hold AI companies and powerful tech figures accountable by mocking overvaluation and exposing misleading narratives. The Onion receives takedown requests and faces attempts at bans.
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