Post-mortem. Quartz closed in April 2025. The account below was written after the end, with the outcome known. Separately, a blind test with the evidence cut off at October 2023, before the end, returned: not called safe. How the blind test works.

Quartz

Quartz is a business news site sold four times since 2018, now largely AI-written

Blind testEvidence cut off October 2023 · Ended April 2025 · Result: not called safe

What happened

Sale to Redbrick with near-total layoff of remaining editorial staff (April 2025)

Why it did not hold

Quartz has passed through four owners since 2018, lost most of its traffic, and now runs on a two-person newsroom producing AI-assisted content.

Quartz writes short summaries of business news and earnings reports. But artificial intelligence can now do this work instantly and nearly free, which Quartz proved when it replaced its own writers with AI in late 2024. The company has been bought and sold four times in seven years at lower prices each time, lost 85% of its readers since 2020, and now has only two journalists left, so it is basically a brand name passed between owners rather than a real business fighting back. The one thing that could matter: if the new owner, Redbrick, actually hires reporters and builds something readers pay for instead of just running AI-written ads, Quartz could become real again, but all the signs say that is not the plan.

AI pressure: Generic AI content tools, including Quartz's own 'Quartz Intelligence Newsroom' byline. Quartz already swapped human writers for AI output in late 2024, then had that AI cite other AI 'slop' and pull a filing tool for errors.

Bigger players: Bloomberg, WSJ, FT, Reuters, plus Axios, Business Insider, The Information. These outlets already run the same short business-news format at far greater scale and staffing, competing directly for the same readers.

What protected it. None apparent: no proprietary data product, no disclosed paid subscriber base, no committed editorial investment from Redbrick.

Timeline

2026-05qz.com continues publishing with contributors including Ben Kesslen and Brian O'Connell
2025-04-04G/O Media sold Quartz to Redbrick, undisclosed price, 4th ownership change since 2018
2025-0410 of 12 remaining newsroom staff laid off, leaving 2 named editors
2025-01Reports found Quartz AI articles citing other AI generated slop, factual errors
2024-12ChatGPT-based SEC filing tool shut down after repeated factual errors
2024-12Quartz began publishing under 'Quartz Intelligence Newsroom' AI byline
2024Quartz India confirmed defunct
2022-07-20Quartz removed its paywall, returning to free ad and newsletter model
2022-04Management sold Quartz to G/O Media for under $10 million
2020-11Uzabase sold Quartz back to management in a staff-led buyout

Also gone

Chegg closed 2026 Course Hero closed 2026 One Hour Translation / Blend was absorbed 2026

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This page is a post-mortem, not a live assessment, and it carries no band. The blind-test result is the only part made without knowledge of the outcome.