News Corp slams AI as subscriptions fall in Australia

News Corp used its fiscal 2026 fourth-quarter results on August 5 to pair record group profitability with a fresh attack on artificial intelligence companies it says use publishers’ work without permission. The company said fourth-quarter revenue rose 11% to $2.34 billion and total segment EBITDA climbed 31% to $423 million, while full-year revenue increased 7% to $9.03 billion. At the same time, digital subscriptions at its Australian mastheads edged lower over the year, according to the company’s results. Chief Executive Robert Thomson used the earnings release to say some AI groups were “crass kleptomaniacs” and in possession of “stolen goods.” ### How much did subscriptions in Australia fall? News Corp’s Australian newspaper business ended fiscal 2026 with 1.162 million digital subscribers, down from 1.166 million a year earlier, according to figures reported around the company’s results. The decline was small in absolute terms, but it reversed the recent upward trend in digital subscriptions at the company’s Australian mastheads. (newscorp.com) The Australian business includes titles such as The Australian, the Daily Telegraph and the Herald Sun, which have been central to News Corp’s effort to shift readers from print to paid digital products. News Corp did not present the Australian subscription slip as the main driver of group results, which were lifted by growth at Dow Jones, digital real estate and book publishing. (grandgoldman.com) ### What exactly did Robert Thomson say about AI companies? Robert Thomson said in the earnings release that “without our journalists, our authors, our data, our brands and our professional expertise, users would be drowning in a slimy sea of AI slop.” He added that News Corp had “trusted content relationships with OpenAI and Meta” and was in “advanced discussions with several other companies.” (grandgoldman.com) The same statement drew a line between companies that license content and those that do not. Thomson said that, under News Corp’s “woo and sue” approach, the company was taking “aggressive action against those who pilfer and profit from our work,” and described offending AI firms as “crass kleptomaniacs.” ### Which parts of News Corp are offsetting the weakness in Australia? (newscorp.com) Dow Jones was one of the clearest sources of growth in the quarter. News Corp said Dow Jones revenue rose 7% in the fourth quarter, helped by higher content licensing and digital circulation revenue, while digital-only subscriptions to The Wall Street Journal increased 8% to nearly 4.5 million average subscriptions. (newscorp.com) REA Group, News Corp’s Australian digital real estate business, also posted stronger numbers. The company said REA revenue rose 21% in the quarter, driven by Australian residential listings and higher yields, while HarperCollins delivered 15% revenue growth. Move, operator of Realtor.com, reported 13% revenue growth. ### Why is News Corp attacking some AI companies while working with others? (investors.newscorp.com) News Corp has already signed a multiyear partnership with OpenAI and Thomson said Meta is also among the company’s trusted content partners. His remarks in the latest results suggest News Corp is pursuing both licensing deals and legal pressure at the same time, rather than taking a single industry-wide approach. (newscorp.com) The company’s language in the August 5 results release framed that strategy in commercial terms as well as legal ones. Thomson said News Corp would work with “honorable companies” in advanced discussions while pursuing those that “pilfer and profit” from its journalism and data. ### What comes next from here? News Corp’s investor relations calendar listed the fiscal 2026 fourth-quarter earnings event for August 5 at 5:00 p.m. (investors.newscorp.com) EDT, and the company’s SEC filings page showed fresh 8-K filings posted on August 5 and August 6. Those filings, along with future annual reporting documents, are the next formal places where investors and rivals will look for more detail on subscriptions, licensing revenue and any new AI agreements. (newscorp.com) (investors.newscorp.com)