## Ellipsus Digest: April 23

Each week (or so), we'll highlight the relevant (and sometimes rage-inducing) news adjacent to writing and freedom of expression.

Written by  
Rex Mizrach

Publish date  
23/04/2025

## Inkitt’s AI-powered fiction factory

Inkitt started in the mid-2010s as a cozy platform where anyone could share their writing. Fast forward twenty twenty- _fuckkkkk,_ and like most startups, it’s pivoted hard into [AI-fueled content production with the soul of an algorithm](https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2025-ai-romance-factory/?embedded-checkout=true).

_Pictured: Inkitt preparing human-generated work for an AI-powered flume ride to The Unknown._

Here’s how it works: Inkitt monitors reader engagement with tracking software, then picks popular stories to publish on its premium app, Galatea. From there, stories can get spun into sequels, spinoffs, or adapted for GalateaTV… often with minimal author involvement. Authors get an undisclosed cut of revenue, but for most, it’s a fraction of what they’d earn with a traditional publisher (let alone self-publishing).

> “They prey on new writers who have no idea what they’re doing," said the writer of one popular Galatea series.

Many, many authors have side-eyed or outright decried the platform as inherently [predatory](https://wrrrdnrrrdgrrrl.com/2022/11/30/on-nanowrimo-inkitt-and-being-an-author/) for years, due to nebulous payout promises. And much of the concern centers on contracts that don’t require authors’ consent for editorial changes or AI-generated “additions” to the original text.

Now, Inkitt has gone full DiSrUpTiOn, leaning heavily on generative AI to ghostwrite, edit, generate audiobook narration, and design covers, under the banner of “democratizing storytelling.” (AI? In _my_ democratized storytelling platform? It’s more likely than you think.)

Pictured: Inkitt’s CEO looking at the most-read stories.

But Inkitt’s CEO doesn’t seem too concerned about what authors think: “His business model doesn’t need them.”

The company recently raised $37 million, with backers including former CEOs of Sony, Penguin, and HarperCollins, proving once again that publishing loves a disruptor… as long as it disrupts creatives, not capital. And [more AI companies](https://holtzbrinck-careers.com/en/insight/combining-artificial-and-human-intelligence-embracing-change-to-power-ai-innovation) are mushrooming up to chase the same vision: “a vision of human-created art becoming the raw material for AI-powered, corporate-owned content-production machines—a scenario in which humans would play an ever-shrinking role.”

(Not to say we predicted this, [but…](/content/blog/the-distributors/index.html))

Welcome to the creator-industrial complex.

## Publishers to AI: Stop stealing our stuff (please?)

Major publishers—including _The New York Times_, _The Washington Post_, _The Guardian_, and _Vox Media_— [have launched a "Support Responsible AI" campaign](https://www.theverge.com/news/644612/major-publishers-stop-ai-theft-ad-campaign), urging the U.S. government to regulate AI's use of copyrighted content.

Like last month's [campaigns](/content/blog/ellipsus-digest-april-4/index.html) by the Authors Guild and the UK's Society of Authors, there's a [website](https://supportresponsibleai.org/) where where you can (and should!) contact your representatives to say, “Hey, maybe stop letting billion-dollar tech giants strip-mine journalism.”

[The campaign](https://www.newsmediaalliance.org/support-responsible-ai-campaign/)’s ads carry slogans like “Stop AI Theft” and “AI Steals From You Too” and call for legislation that would force AI companies to pay for the content they train on and clearly label AI-generated content with attribution. This follows lobbying by OpenAI and Google to make it legal to scrape and train on copyrighted material without consent.

The publishers assert they are not _explicitly_ anti-AI, but advocate for a “fair” system that respects intellectual property and supports journalism.

But… _awkward_, _The Washington Post_—now owned by Jeff Bezos—has reportedly [already struck a deal with OpenAI](https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/22/chatgpt-adds-washington-post-openai-media-bezos-altman.html) to license and summarize its content. So, mixed signals.

Still, as the campaign reminds us: “Stealing is un-American.”

(Unless it’s profitable.)

## \#WarForever

We at Ellipsus love a good [meme-turned-megaproject](/content/blog/goncharov-collaborative-storytelling/index.html). Back in January, the-app-formerly-known-as-Twitter user @lolt64 tweeted a cryptic line about " [the frozen wastes of europa](https://x.com/lolt64/status/1877267786885460218),” the earliest [reference](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/ice-war-on-europa-warforever) to the never-ending war on Jupiter’s icy moon.

A slew of bleak dispatches from weary, doomed soldiers entrenched on Europa’s ice fields snowballed (iceberged?) into a sprawling saga, yes- _and-ing_ with fan art, vignettes, and memes under the hashtag [#WarForever](https://www.tumblr.com/gracetheacefromouterspace/781283211345100800/fave-ice-war-tweets-so-far?source=share).

It’s not _quite_ X’s answer to Goncharov: It turns out _WarForever_ is some flavor of viral marketing for a tabletop RPG zine. But the internet ran with it anyway, with [NASA playing](https://x.com/EuropaClipper/status/1913635773863301444) the [Scorcese](https://variety.com/2022/film/news/martin-scorsese-addresses-fake-film-goncharov-tumblr-1235442497/) of the stars.

In a digital hellworld increasingly dominated by AI slopification, data harvesting, and “content at scale,” projects like _WarForever_ are a blessed reminder that creativity—actual, human creativity—perseveres.

Even on a frozen moon. Even here.

_Let us know if you find something other writers should know about, (or_ [join our Discord](http://discord.gg/ellipsus) _and share it there!)_