1 in 5 Brits now get their news from AI

Ofcom found that 21% of UK adults used an AI tool for news in the past month, with ChatGPT alone reaching 13% of the population.

The figures come from the regulator’s News Report 2026, published on Tuesday (15 September), which drew on interviews with 5,397 adults between November 2025 and March 2026.

This is the first year Ofcom asked about AI applications and services as a way of getting news.

Use of AI for news peaks among 25 to 34-year-olds, with 37% of that age group saying they had used it in the past month. The figure falls to 30% among 16 to 24-year-olds, 28% among 35 to 44-year-olds and 19% among 45 to 54-year-olds.

Older adults use AI for news far less, with 12% of 55 to 64-year-olds, 6% of 65 to 74-year-olds and 3% of those aged 75 and over reporting any use. Ofcom said adoption is lagging among older individuals while younger age groups drive the growth.

Household income also shapes uptake, with 29% of adults in AB socioeconomic households using AI for news compared with 12% in DE households. C1 households sit at 21% and C2 households at 18%.

Among the companies behind these tools, OpenAI reached 14% of UK adults for news content in the past month, level with X and just behind Apple on 13%. Google, which includes Gemini alongside Search, YouTube and Google News, reached 60% of adults, while Meta reached 51% and Microsoft 8%.

AI now competes for a slice of the 72 minutes a day Ofcom estimates UK adults spend on news, up from 61 minutes last year. Search engines, news aggregators and AI tools together account for nine of those minutes, or 13% of the total.

Ofcom found that people who get news through AI rate it poorly against every traditional platform. Among those who used AI apps or services for news, 44% said the news they saw was trustworthy, 42% said it was impartial and 44% said it was accurate.

Broadcast TV scored 65% for trustworthiness, 56% for impartiality and 66% for accuracy, while print newspapers scored 66%, 59% and 67% on the same measures. Only social media and video-sharing platforms scored lower than AI, at 39%, 36% and 40%.

Online news aggregators such as Google News and Apple News scored 59% for trustworthiness, 61% for impartiality and 66% for accuracy, the highest of any online route. Ofcom said these services primarily direct people to traditional news providers.

The regulator’s separate Local Media Survey found that just 4% of adults used AI tools for local news and information, compared with 23% who used them for news overall. Word of mouth, social media and television remained the main routes to local news at 54%, 48% and 42% respectively.

Children aged 12 to 15 are also picking up the habit, with 14% saying they had seen news through AI apps or AI Overviews in search results in the past month. ChatGPT reached 12% of this age group for news and Google Gemini reached 9%.

Very few adults rely on AI or any other online intermediary alone, with 5% accessing news solely through social media, search, AI tools and aggregators combined. Ofcom said using intermediaries generally complements rather than replaces other ways of getting news.

The regulator pointed to the Reuters Institute’s latest Digital News Report, which identified AI platforms and chatbots as an emerging challenge for publishers as users encounter news through generated summaries rather than news brands. Ofcom said it will continue to monitor audiences’ use of AI in accessing news.

Ofcom cautioned that changes to the survey this year, including a broader definition of news and a shift to asking about the past month rather than “nowadays”, mean the 2026 figures are not directly comparable with earlier years.

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