More people are using AI chatbots for news—rising from 7 to 10 percent globally—but trust remains low at just 20 percent among the general population.

What happened: Weekly use of AI chatbots for news climbed from 7 to 10 percent globally, according to the Reuters Institute's Digital News Report 2026. Young people and heavy news consumers lead adoption: 17 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds use chatbots for news weekly, compared to 5 percent in the oldest age group. Growth is concentrated in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Southern and Eastern Europe.

Why it matters: Trust in AI-generated news sits at just 20 percent among the general population, though it rises to 44 percent among actual chatbot users. The top reason people use chatbots is to ask follow-up questions (42 percent), but only 4 percent of users click through to original sources—far below the 19 percent rate for search engines. This gap means few verify the accuracy of AI summaries, even though the cited sources don't always match the answer.

What to watch: The report identifies two risks. First, AI chatbots tend to confirm users' existing beliefs rather than challenge them, which could deepen polarization especially among those with extreme political views (16 percent on the far left, 15 percent on the far right use chatbots for news). Second, the personalized way chatbots present news accelerates fragmentation of public discourse, eroding the shared information base that public debate depends on.