Story perspectives

Microsoft and OpenAI Warn: “Doom Loop” Hurts Web

By Drooid · Sep 19, 2026, 6:22 PM UTC · How we work

Summary

Story summary

U.S. filings reveal Microsoft and OpenAI label their AI approach a “doom loop” that harms the web.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella testified that chatbot answers replace visits, causing Bing traffic to the Times to drop 90%.
OpenAI head of ChatGPT Nick Turley warned publishers face an “existential threat” because the product is “largely substitutive.”
Publisher data shows Bing Chat click-throughs for Times articles fell 83%–93% versus traditional Bing searches.

History

Historical Context

In February 2011 Google launched the Panda algorithm, which by April lowered rankings for low-quality sites and altered roughly 12 % of search results, boosting news and social sites while penalizing ad-heavy pages. The update continued through 2014 and became part of the core algorithm. Today Microsoft’s Bing and OpenAI’s ChatGPT raise similar worries that AI-generated answers could divert clicks from publishers, echoing Panda’s legacy.

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Story summary

U.S. filings reveal Microsoft and OpenAI label their AI approach a “doom loop” that harms the web.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella testified that chatbot answers replace visits, causing Bing traffic to the Times to drop 90%.
OpenAI head of ChatGPT Nick Turley warned publishers face an “existential threat” because the product is “largely substitutive.”
Publisher data shows Bing Chat click-throughs for Times articles fell 83%–93% versus traditional Bing searches.

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