Anti-Waymo op-eds riddled with AI, detector finds no labels

The op-ed war against Waymo has a ghostwriter, and it's a machine. Semafor reports that the AI-detection service Pangram flagged heavy AI involvement in a string of anti-robotaxi opinion pieces placed in local news outlets — arguing the company could kill jobs, endanger riders, starve the government of data and block fire trucks. Not one carried a label disclosing AI use.

Ira Goldstein, former head of New York's Black Car Fund, wrote one such op-ed in the New York Daily News. He told Semafor a PR firm prepared the first draft, which he reviewed and edited before the firm placed it. Goldstein said he stands by every word, and argued that undisclosed AI on a 700-word draft is small next to what he says thousands of robotaxis will do to New York. He also noted the same PR firm later dropped the campaign — to go work for Waymo.

The bylines stack up. Pangram scored two Dallas Morning News pieces by local lawyer Amy Witherite on autonomous vehicle accidents at 95% and 71% AI-written; a San Francisco Chronicle warning about AVs stalling in power outages at 88% AI-generated; another Daily News piece at 68%; a San Diego Union-Tribune argument on job displacement at 95%; and a Times of San Diego call for tracking Waymo's rollout at 87%.

Chronicle author Michael Redmond said he uses AI tools for research, testing arguments and organizing his thinking, calling them a fact of modern writing. Chronicle editor Matt Fleischer said the paper's policy asks opinion writers to disclose AI use. A spokesperson for Witherite, David Margulies, said her communications firm helps develop, draft, edit and place the pieces and sometimes uses AI for media monitoring, press lists and initial drafts — all reviewed, edited and fact-checked before her approval. He called AI a shiny object being used to change the subject.

Editors aren't shrugging. Dallas Morning News commentary editor Ryan Sanders said limited AI for research or polishing doesn't disqualify a submission, but fully AI-generated pieces are rejected. Daily News executive editor Andrew Julien said the paper wants stricter guardrails, especially while it sues Microsoft and OpenAI, arguing readers deserve original opinions, not machine content from companies he says owe the paper billions.

The tokens are flying in a bigger fight. The Washington Post reported this month that the Coalition for Accountability and Road Safety, a group of Waymo opponents, spent over $2.6 million on ads around DC in 2026 — more than the winning mayoral candidate spent that year. Waymo runs commercially in 15 US cities and has drawn opposition from labor unions, Uber and Lyft, AI-skeptical groups and pedestrian safety advocates.