Synthetic Research, Prices Increases, and AI Paywalls | Adrian, your AI curator

Financial Times Uses AI to Predict Not Just Who Pays, but Who Stays

Digiday, The Financial Times’ AI paywall drove conversions up 290%. Now it’s learning who stays

The Financial Times is evolving its AI-powered paywall from focusing on conversion to predicting retention.

Since launching in January, the AI paywall has boosted conversion rates by 290% and raised lifetime value by up to 10% among tracked readers. The system uses behavioral signals like visit frequency and content type to personalize offers and has gradually tightened free access, increasing subscriptions.

However, it currently applies only to 30–40% of consented users, so the FT is running control tests to measure its true impact. The next phase aims to merge insights from this AI model into the broader paywall system, using learnings from loyal subscribers to refine acquisition and personalize content for diverse reader segments.

Study Finds 1 in 10 U.S. Newspaper Articles Show Signs of AI Involvement

Press Gazette, Study claims 9% of US newspaper articles at least partly AI generated

A University of Maryland study found that around 9% of articles published by U.S. newspapers between June and September 2025 were at least partly written by AI. Using the Pangram AI detector on 186,000 stories from 1,500 outlets, researchers discovered AI use was far higher among small local papers (9.3%) than large national ones (1.7%), likely due to staffing and resource constraints.

AI was most often used for routine topics like weather, science, and health, while its presence was minimal in war, crime, or religion coverage. Only 5% of AI-assisted stories disclosed their use of automation. The study also noted higher AI use in non-English, especially Spanish-language, articles and a recent rise in AI-generated opinion pieces, mostly from guest contributors.

The Times Experiments with “Synthetic Research” to Guide Editorial Strategy

Digiday, How The Times is using AI to model synthetic focus groups from human audiences

The Times and Sunday Times are using AI-generated “synthetic audiences”, or what they prefer to call “synthetic research”, to test ideas and speed up decision-making.

Partnering with Electric Twin, the publisher created digital replicas of its 642,000 subscribers and the wider UK news audience to simulate focus groups. These AI audiences helped choose the name for its business podcast and are now used to predict engagement trends.

Accuracy tests showed a 92% match with real audience behavior, nearly equal to traditional research methods. The models combine public, behavioral, and social science data and are trained alongside The Times’ insights teams.

Finding the Balance: How News Publishers Make Video Pay

Digital Content Next, Publishers reveal their ROI equation for digital video

Digital video is now central to audience engagement and revenue growth, but it forces publishers to balance cost and quality.

Outlets like The Independent and The Sun only greenlight video projects once sponsors are secured, ensuring profitability but limiting editorial freedom. Others, such as The Guardian, prioritize storytelling and audience value over sponsorship, seeing video as a natural extension of reporting.

Meanwhile, The Financial Times and The New Statesman use video primarily to attract new audiences—either through creative short films or by repurposing podcasts into video to expand reach efficiently. Across the board, publishers see video as essential, but success depends on aligning creative goals with commercial strategy.

How to Raise Subscription Prices Without Losing Readers

The Audiencers, Subscription price increase: the 7 biggest mistakes to avoid

Pricing expert Florian Bauer argues that news publishers shouldn’t fear price increases — as long as they’re done smartly and regularly.

Delaying price adjustments leads to steeper hikes later, which risks higher churn. Instead, he advises treating price increases like “training a muscle”: small, consistent adjustments are easier for audiences to accept.

Publishers should always offer alternatives (like lower tiers or annual plans), avoid overexplaining cost reasons, and focus instead on the value subscribers receive. Bauer points to examples like Netflix and Spotify, which pair price increases with new options or features while separating communication to reduce backlash.

He also recommends announcing increases well in advance and rewarding loyal readers with delayed or smaller hikes. In short, transparency, timing, and flexibility turn price changes from a threat into a retention tool.