HomeTaboola's Controversial Ad Format Shifts to AI Chatbot Service
Taboola, the company famous for powering those peculiar, clickbait-style ads commonly found below online articles, has developed an AI chatbot. The tool, named "DeeperDive," is now launching in beta on USA Today and The Independent, designed to respond to reader queries using content "sourced from trusted journalists."
A demonstration on Taboola’s website displays a DeeperDive search bar at the top of USA Today's homepage, which automatically suggests prompts such as "How is the UK government tackling the cost of living crisis in 2025?" and "What are the environmental impacts of recent oil drilling projects in the North Sea?"
DeeperDive's AI-generated response includes referenced articles — alongside an advertisement. GIF: TaboolaIn addition to delivering an AI-generated answer, the chatbot also showcases relevant USA Today articles, followed by a sponsored link. Taboola states in its announcement that DeepDive enables publishers to incorporate "contextually relevant, high-intent advertisements directly into the AI-generated results page." Users can also highlight a section of an article and use DeepDive to ask questions about it.
The AI tool will initially be visible to only one percent of USA Today's audience as its quality undergoes evaluation. The Verge contacted Taboola for more details regarding how many readers of The Independent will have access to DeepDive but has not yet received a response.
Related
- The mastermind behind those AI articles
This isn’t the first instance of USA Today's publisher, Gannett, utilizing AI. In 2023, the company halted its AI-generated sports reporting after facing criticism from both reporters and readers. It also published what seemed to be AI-generated articles on its Reviewed site—which it later shut down (though the site has since been revived under new ownership). USA Today also began testing AI-generated summaries placed at the beginning of articles last year.
Related article
Kakao Mobility outlines Level 4 autonomous driving roadmap for physical AI
Kakao Mobility is planning to develop Level 4 autonomous driving technologies internally as part of its physical AI strategy.
At the 2026 World IT Show conference in Seoul's COEX, Kim Jin-kyu — vice president and head of Kakao Mobility's Physical AI
Barry Diller: Trust in Sam Altman irrelevant as AGI nears
Barry Diller, the billionaire media titan, does not believe OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is untrustworthy, despite recent reports suggesting otherwise. Speaking at the Wall Street Journal's "Future of Everything" conference this week, Diller defended Altman
YouTube expands AI deepfake detection to politicians, government officials, and journalists
On Tuesday, YouTube announced it is expanding its deepfake detection technology to a select group of government officials, political candidates, and journalists. The tool identifies AI-generated likenesses and lets pilot participants request the remo
Related Special Topic Recommendations
Productivity
AI Personal Wellness & Focus Coaches: Manage Burnout & Boost Mental Energy Levels
Discover the 2026 best AI personal wellness and focus coaches on XIX.AI. Our curated rankings feature top-rated, game-changing tools to manage burnout and boost mental energy. Compare free vs paid options with real-world insights. Unlock your path to peak productivity and well-being today.
10 tools
xix.ai
chatbot
Top-Rated AI Romantic Chatbots: Build Long-Term Relationships with Consistent Personalities
Discover the 2026 latest top-rated AI romantic chatbots for building genuine, long-term connections. Our curated list features powerful, consistent personalities, free vs paid comparisons, and real-world tests. Find your perfect companion and start building today at XIX.AI.
10 tools
xix.ai
Education and Learning
Best AI Data Science Mentors: Master SQL, Pandas & Machine Learning Workflows
Discover the 2026 best AI data science mentors to master SQL, Pandas & ML workflows. Explore our top-rated, curated selection at XIX.AI for powerful, game-changing guidance. Compare free vs paid options with real-world insights. Unlock your data science mastery today.
10 tools
xix.ai
chatbot
Best AI Flirting & Conversation Trainers: Improve Social Charisma and Confidence in Real-Time
Discover the 2026 best AI flirting and conversation trainers on XIX.AI. Our curated, top-rated selection helps you build social charisma and confidence in real-time. Explore must-try, game-changing tools with free vs paid comparisons and weekly updated rankings. Unlock your social edge today.
10 tools
xix.ai
code
Best AI Tools for Automated Unit Testing: Generate Jest, PyTest & JUnit Test Cases in One Click
Discover the 2026 latest top-rated AI tools for automated unit testing. Our curated selection features powerful, game-changing solutions to generate Jest, PyTest & JUnit test cases instantly. Compare free vs paid options with real-world tests and weekly updated rankings on XIX.AI. Unlock your AI edge and boost development productivity today.
10 tools
xix.ai
Data Analysis
Best AI Data Visualization Tools: Auto-Generate Interactive BI Dashboards from Raw Files
Discover the 2026 best AI data visualization tools at XIX.AI. Our curated, top-rated selection helps you auto-generate powerful, interactive BI dashboards from raw files instantly. Compare free vs paid options with real-world tests and weekly updated rankings. Unlock your data's potential today.
10 tools
xix.ai
Comments (0)
0/500
Taboola, the company famous for powering those peculiar, clickbait-style ads commonly found below online articles, has developed an AI chatbot. The tool, named "DeeperDive," is now launching in beta on USA Today and The Independent, designed to respond to reader queries using content "sourced from trusted journalists."
A demonstration on Taboola’s website displays a DeeperDive search bar at the top of USA Today's homepage, which automatically suggests prompts such as "How is the UK government tackling the cost of living crisis in 2025?" and "What are the environmental impacts of recent oil drilling projects in the North Sea?"
In addition to delivering an AI-generated answer, the chatbot also showcases relevant USA Today articles, followed by a sponsored link. Taboola states in its announcement that DeepDive enables publishers to incorporate "contextually relevant, high-intent advertisements directly into the AI-generated results page." Users can also highlight a section of an article and use DeepDive to ask questions about it.
The AI tool will initially be visible to only one percent of USA Today's audience as its quality undergoes evaluation. The Verge contacted Taboola for more details regarding how many readers of The Independent will have access to DeepDive but has not yet received a response.
Related
- The mastermind behind those AI articles
This isn’t the first instance of USA Today's publisher, Gannett, utilizing AI. In 2023, the company halted its AI-generated sports reporting after facing criticism from both reporters and readers. It also published what seemed to be AI-generated articles on its Reviewed site—which it later shut down (though the site has since been revived under new ownership). USA Today also began testing AI-generated summaries placed at the beginning of articles last year.
Kakao Mobility outlines Level 4 autonomous driving roadmap for physical AI
Kakao Mobility is planning to develop Level 4 autonomous driving technologies internally as part of its physical AI strategy.
At the 2026 World IT Show conference in Seoul's COEX, Kim Jin-kyu — vice president and head of Kakao Mobility's Physical AI
Barry Diller: Trust in Sam Altman irrelevant as AGI nears
Barry Diller, the billionaire media titan, does not believe OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is untrustworthy, despite recent reports suggesting otherwise. Speaking at the Wall Street Journal's "Future of Everything" conference this week, Diller defended Altman
YouTube expands AI deepfake detection to politicians, government officials, and journalists
On Tuesday, YouTube announced it is expanding its deepfake detection technology to a select group of government officials, political candidates, and journalists. The tool identifies AI-generated likenesses and lets pilot participants request the remo
Discover the 2026 best AI personal wellness and focus coaches on XIX.AI. Our curated rankings feature top-rated, game-changing tools to manage burnout and boost mental energy. Compare free vs paid options with real-world insights. Unlock your path to peak productivity and well-being today.
10 tools
xix.ai
Discover the 2026 latest top-rated AI romantic chatbots for building genuine, long-term connections. Our curated list features powerful, consistent personalities, free vs paid comparisons, and real-world tests. Find your perfect companion and start building today at XIX.AI.
10 tools
xix.ai
Discover the 2026 best AI data science mentors to master SQL, Pandas & ML workflows. Explore our top-rated, curated selection at XIX.AI for powerful, game-changing guidance. Compare free vs paid options with real-world insights. Unlock your data science mastery today.
10 tools
xix.ai
Discover the 2026 best AI flirting and conversation trainers on XIX.AI. Our curated, top-rated selection helps you build social charisma and confidence in real-time. Explore must-try, game-changing tools with free vs paid comparisons and weekly updated rankings. Unlock your social edge today.
10 tools
xix.ai
Discover the 2026 latest top-rated AI tools for automated unit testing. Our curated selection features powerful, game-changing solutions to generate Jest, PyTest & JUnit test cases instantly. Compare free vs paid options with real-world tests and weekly updated rankings on XIX.AI. Unlock your AI edge and boost development productivity today.
10 tools
xix.ai
Discover the 2026 best AI data visualization tools at XIX.AI. Our curated, top-rated selection helps you auto-generate powerful, interactive BI dashboards from raw files instantly. Compare free vs paid options with real-world tests and weekly updated rankings. Unlock your data's potential today.
10 tools
xix.ai
