Bill Simmons Promotes ChatGPT on Podcast, Drawing Backlash at $200 Million Ringer
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Sep 3
Bill Simmons Promotes ChatGPT on Podcast, Drawing Backlash at $200 Million Ringer
2 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Sep 3
Summary
A recent Bill Simmons podcast on Russell Westbrook’s retirement featured a ChatGPT ad read, with Simmons praising the tool’s answer about Westbrook and urging listeners to try it.
The promotion triggered backlash from fans and renewed criticism that Simmons is endorsing technology seen as draining traffic and value from writing and other creative work.
That tension is sharper because Simmons built his reputation on championing distinctive human writing at Grantland and later at The Ringer, which Spotify bought for about $200 million.
The criticism also lands as The Ringer leans heavily into podcasts, publishes only a few articles a day, and has recently laid off writers despite still employing 25 staff writers.
Senior Ringer figures Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins have publicly distanced themselves from Simmons’s AI experiments, underscoring unease inside a media company now tied to the tools threatening its core craft.