What’s actually slowing this PC down?
Pick the symptom - the matching free tool is one click away.
Some links on this page are affiliate links: if you buy through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.
Short answer: Sports Illustrated did publish commercial articles under bylines linked to apparently fabricated author profiles, including Sora Tanaka, Drew Ortiz and Ben Ortiz. The profiles used biographies and images reported as fabricated or AI-generated-looking. However, the separate claim that the article text itself was written by artificial intelligence was alleged by Futurism and denied by The Arena Group, Sports Illustrated’s publisher at the time.
The publisher said the affected product-review and e-commerce articles came from third-party vendor AdVon Commerce. It acknowledged that pseudonyms had been used, removed the content and ended the AdVon relationship. That makes the fake-author issue substantially clearer than the unresolved question of whether AI generated the articles themselves.
What happened at Sports Illustrated?
On November 27, 2023, Futurism reported that Sports Illustrated had published product reviews and other low-stakes articles under author identities that appeared not to belong to real, independently verifiable people. The bylines were supported by author pages, biographies and profile photographs that looked synthetic or fabricated.
The reporting highlighted generic or awkward biographies, AI-generated-looking headshots, a lack of independent publication histories and author pages that appeared to exist mainly on Sports Illustrated-related sites. Some profiles and articles reportedly disappeared or changed after questions were sent to the publisher.
#1 Best Overall
Those findings established a serious authorship and disclosure problem. They did not, by themselves, prove that the article text was generated by AI. A fabricated author identity and AI-written prose are separate claims and require separate evidence.
Who were the alleged fake writers?
The reporting identified several purported authors:
- Sora Tanaka: Presented as a fitness and nutrition expert on a Sports Illustrated author page. The Guardian reported that Futurism concluded she was not a real person.
- Drew Ortiz: Associated with a volleyball article and an apparently fabricated biography and headshot, according to contemporaneous reporting.
- Ben Ortiz: Named by Futurism as another purported author whose identity and profile were questioned.
It is most accurate to describe these as apparently fabricated bylines, purported authors or nonexistent or unverifiable profiles. The available reporting does not justify claiming that every writer name used by Sports Illustrated was fabricated.
Recommended Free Tools
Why did the profiles appear to be AI-generated?
The evidence reported publicly included:
- Headshots that appeared to be AI-generated.
- Biographies written in generic, awkward or synthetic-sounding language.
- No clear professional history outside Sports Illustrated.
- Author pages that seemed to exist only, or almost only, on the publisher’s websites.
- Profiles and articles being removed or altered after the investigation appeared.
These are strong warning signs, but they are not the same as a disclosed forensic audit of every image and biography. The careful formulation is that the profiles were reported as fabricated and the images as AI-generated-looking or apparently AI-generated, rather than asserting that every image was technically proven to have been made by an image generator.
Were the articles themselves written by AI?
This remains the most disputed part of the story.
Futurism alleged that at least some articles appeared to be AI-generated. Its reporting pointed to repetitive or unnatural prose and cited a source who characterized the content as AI-generated. The unusual combination of questionable author identities and formulaic product articles added to the suspicion.
The Arena Group denied that the articles were AI-generated. In the explanation reported by Futurism and the Guardian, the company said:
- The material was commercial or product-review content.
- The articles had been licensed from AdVon Commerce.
- AdVon had assured the company that humans wrote and edited the articles.
- AdVon used anti-plagiarism and anti-AI software, according to the company’s account.
- AdVon had used pen names or pseudonyms in some cases.
The Arena Group’s statement was the publisher’s position, not an independent finding that every article was human-written. Conversely, stylistic oddities, AI-detection scores or the presence of fabricated profiles would not, on their own, prove that the article text came from an AI system.
Outdated Drivers Are Slowing You Down
One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware matchWindows Errors? Fix Them Before They Spread
Repair common Windows errors and clear accumulated junk for a smoother, more stable PC - no reinstall needed.Free scan · no reinstallAI assistance also exists on a spectrum. Brainstorming, editing, translation or research organization is not identical to publishing an article drafted primarily by a generative model. The public record summarized here does not establish which, if any, of those forms of assistance occurred.
What role did AdVon Commerce play?
The Arena Group identified AdVon Commerce as the outside company that supplied or licensed the affected content. The company said AdVon had used pseudonyms and that it had ended the relationship after the issue became public.
That explanation identifies a vendor but does not remove the publisher’s accountability. The content appeared on Arena-owned websites under Sports Illustrated branding. Readers could reasonably assume that the publisher had verified the author, biography, image and editorial process.
The distinction between licensed commerce content and ordinary journalism matters, but it does not eliminate the need for truthful bylines. Product reviews can influence purchasing decisions even when they are not investigative stories or reported features. A vendor’s assurance that humans wrote an article also does not answer whether the named author was a real person or whether the page clearly disclosed the commercial production arrangement.
Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteContemporary reporting said some pages later carried language identifying the material as third-party content and stating that Sports Illustrated editorial staff were not involved. That wording should not be treated as proof that every affected page had the same disclosure from the beginning. See TheWrap’s report for that contemporaneous context.
Rank #4
What did The Arena Group do?
The Arena Group said it removed the content in question, ended its partnership with AdVon and continued an internal investigation. Several author pages and articles also reportedly disappeared or changed after the investigation.
“Removed” should not be read as proof that every affected URL was permanently deleted. The current Sports Illustrated site is not a complete public archive of the pages that existed in November 2023.
Why the scandal mattered
The central issue was not simply whether a chatbot helped produce a product review. It was the manufacture of a human-looking editorial identity around content presented through a trusted media brand.
Quick wins for a faster PC:
Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →- Deception: Author pages, biographies and portraits suggested identifiable human contributors.
- Trust: Sports Illustrated’s name implied editorial standards and subject expertise.
- Disclosure: Readers were not initially given a clear explanation of the authorship and production arrangement, according to the reporting.
- Commercial influence: Product reviews can affect purchases and therefore require transparent sourcing.
- Accountability: The vendor, publisher, brand owner, editors and byline system each played different roles.
- Representation: Futurism argued that synthetic identities and images could manufacture an appearance of diversity. That is a criticism of the practice, not established proof of a specific corporate motive.
A pen name can be legitimate when it protects a writer’s privacy or safety. The concern here was the apparent presentation of fictional people as real contributors, complete with biographies and portraits. The Arena Group’s privacy explanation should therefore be attributed to the company rather than treated as independently validated.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Who was responsible?
The accountability chain is clearer when the roles are separated:
- AdVon Commerce reportedly supplied or licensed the commercial articles and used pseudonyms in some cases.
- The Arena Group licensed and published the material on websites it operated, including Sports Illustrated.
- Sports Illustrated’s branding and author pages presented the content to readers in a way that implied a particular editorial identity.
- Authentic Brands Group owned the Sports Illustrated brand but was not the day-to-day publisher during the controversy.
- Minute Media became the later Sports Illustrated publishing operator in 2024 and should not be treated as the publisher responsible for the 2023 incident.
Outsourcing production can explain how questionable content entered a site; it does not by itself excuse failures to verify bylines, label commercial material or supervise publication standards.
What happened to Sports Illustrated afterward?
The scandal unfolded during a broader period of financial and operational instability at The Arena Group. The following events should not all be attributed solely to the fake-author controversy:
- November 27–28, 2023: Futurism published its investigation. The Arena Group denied that the article text was AI-generated, acknowledged pseudonyms, attributed the material to AdVon and said it removed the content and ended the partnership.
- December 2023: Arena Group CEO Ross Levinsohn was fired amid the company’s wider turmoil. Contemporary reporting linked the timing to the controversy, but the scandal was not established as the sole formal cause. (Guardian)
- January 18, 2024: Authentic Brands Group terminated Arena’s Sports Illustrated licensing arrangement after a payment dispute. Arena filings described an approximately $3.75 million payment and a $45 million termination liability. (Arena annual report)
- March 18, 2024: Authentic announced an agreement with Minute Media to take over Sports Illustrated’s publishing rights and editorial operations. (Associated Press)
- June 2024: Sports Illustrated’s FAQ said Minute Media had taken over editorial operations for the magazine and digital products. (SI FAQ)
- August 7, 2024: Minute Media announced the rebrand of FanNation’s localized team sites as “On SI.”
- January 20, 2026: Sports Illustrated launched SI TV, a free ad-supported streaming channel, under Minute Media.
Where is Sports Illustrated now?
As of August 18, 2026, Sports Illustrated remains active under Minute Media, with digital and print publishing and the SI TV streaming channel. Authentic Brands Group continues to own the brand, while Minute Media operates the publishing business. The current operation should not be casually conflated with The Arena Group’s 2023 controversy. (Authentic Brands Group; SI TV announcement)
Final verdict
Sports Illustrated undeniably published content under author identities that were reported as fabricated, and its then-publisher acknowledged that pseudonyms had been used. The stronger claim—that the article text itself was definitively AI-generated—was alleged but denied and was not established by a publicly disclosed independent audit.
The lasting lesson is broader than “Sports Illustrated used AI.” The scandal involved outsourced commercial content, fictional-looking contributors, inadequate transparency and the use of a major journalism brand to establish credibility. Even if a human had written every disputed article, presenting it through an invented author identity would still be a serious publishing failure.
Quick Recap
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
