Ben Touati says AI-written gambling articles were published under his name after ClickOut layoff

Freelance journalist Ben Touati says his byline was attached to AI-written gambling guides months after ClickOut Media ended his working relationship. Touati, who said he lost access to company systems on March 9 and formally stopped working with the company on March 23, discovered five articles on his Esports Insider author page on May 26 that he says he never wrote. Press Gazette reported that the pieces were published between 5:39 a.m. and 6 a.m. over four consecutive days through May 29. Touati later filed a complaint on June 2 under the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation, arguing that his personal data had been misused. The company then removed his byline from the five articles and reassigned them to another writer, according to the report. Press Gazette updated the story again on July 15, saying 28 more gambling-related articles carrying Touati’s name had appeared on the German-language version of Esports Insider, with publication dates ranging from May 15 to July 14. The report also linked the episode to ClickOut Media’s parent company, Finixio, which Press Gazette said generated about £40 million in revenue in 2024 and controls more than 200 domains. The company said it uses AI-assisted content with human checks and editing, but its public statement did not explain why a former contributor’s name appeared on articles he says he did not write.