Germany’s largest publishing house, Axel Springer, has decided to make significant staff cuts at its newspapers, Die Welt and Bild, according to a letter today from CEO Matthias Deppner, who also warns of the replacement of journalists by artificial intelligence systems.

As Mr. Deppner points out in his letter to employees, the publishing house will “grow while reducing jobs,” with “significant cuts in production, editing and administration” of the two newspapers. The management’s plan also provides incentives for voluntary exit, with the aim, as Matias Deppner clarifies, to avoid layoffs.

The Group’s results should improve by around 100 million euros within the next three years and this is planned to be done through increasing turnover, but also reducing costs, added CEO Axel Springe

Welt and Bild “must develop their well-paid and sustainable online subscriptions,” he stresses, pointing out that “journalistic standards will remain high and become even higher.” He even promises that the “journalistic core” of the two papers will not shrink, clarifying, however, that “this is not a job guarantee, as employees who no longer meet the requirements” will lose their positions.

In his letter, Mr. Deppner further warns that “journalists risk being made obsolete by artificial intelligence, which has the potential to make independent journalism better than ever – or simply replace it, as computers using artificial intelligence soon they will be better at gathering information than human journalists.” If the media want to survive, the head of Axel Springer continues, they must focus on exclusive news or original commentary. AI-powered tools like ChatGPT, he says, promise an information revolution. However, he admits, clarifying the motivations behind the events, “will remain the work of journalists.”

The Ver.di workers’ union criticized the Group’s plans, pointing out that they are being made “without economic necessity and only with the aim of an exaggerated expectation of profit”.