Elon Musk-backed OpenAI develops tool that can write fake news articles from a handful of words

OpenAI, an artificial intelligence research group co-founded by billionaire Elon Musk, has demonstrated a piece of software that can produce authentic-looking fake news articles after being given just a few pieces of information.

In an example published Thursday by OpenAI, the system was given some sample text: ‘A train carriage containing controlled nuclear materials was stolen in Cincinnati today. Its whereabout are unknown.’ From this, the software was able to generate a convincing seven-paragraph news story, including quotes from government officials, with the only caveat being that it was entirely untrue.