The use of AI chatbots for news is on the rise — but not everywhere

One in 10 people globally are now using AI chatbots such as ChatGPT and Google Gemini for news weekly, representing a 3 percentage point increase from the previous year, according to the 2026 Digital News Report. This growth is not uniform across all regions, with significant increases observed in parts of Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Southern and Eastern Europe. For instance, weekly usage in South Korea doubled from 7% to 14%, in Peru from 6% to 11%, and in Spain from 4% to 8%. In contrast, usage in the U.S. remained stable at 6%, and in Northern and Western European countries like the U.K. (4%), Germany (5%), and Denmark (5%), usage levels stayed similar to the prior year and remained below the global average. The report indicates that the geographical distribution of AI chatbot news consumption mirrors general platform usage for news, suggesting that higher adoption rates are linked to existing reliance on search engines, social media, video networks, and aggregators. Trust in AI chatbots for news also appears to be a significant factor, with markets exhibiting higher trust levels also reporting greater usage. This correlation between trust and use is noted as being stronger for AI chatbots compared to social media, potentially due to the more deliberate engagement required when using a chatbot.