Nota News, an AI-powered local news network, was shut down after a plagiarism scandal involving copied content was discovered on its Henrico site. The company, which was using AI to scale local journalism without clear editorial standards and oversight, had launched 11 sites across California and Georgia as part of its national automated push to fill news deserts and cover county governments. Nota CEO Josh Brandau responded to Axios' inquiries about the copying of content and said the company "immediately pulled the work down" after learning of the concerns. The scandal shows the growing risk of using AI technology to scale journalism without sufficient oversight.