Microsoft Start's AI inserted a poll asking readers if a murdered woman died by murder, accident or suicide

Microsoft's generative AI automatically attached a reader poll to a Guardian article republished on Microsoft Start about the death of 21-year-old Sydney water polo coach Lilie James, asking whether the cause was murder, accident or suicide; readers blamed the Guardian journalist. Guardian Media Group CEO Anna Bateson wrote to Microsoft president Brad Smith citing significant reputational damage, and Microsoft deactivated AI polls on all news articles and said a poll should not have appeared beside such an article.

What this means for youIf you let AI auto-generate content next to your material, its output is attributed to you by readers, not to the vendor.