Business Insider's AI coverage reaches 81M readers—2x more than any other publication
Between 2024 and 2025, our platform tracked every major publication's artificial intelligence coverage. We measured three key metrics: article volume, total readership, and average readership per article. What emerged is a clear hierarchy of which publications matter most when you're trying to reach decision-makers interested in AI.
The top five publications by total readership—Business Insider, TechCrunch, CNBC, Forbes, and WIRED—collectively captured over 195 million readers, accounting for 39% of all AI coverage readership despite publishing just 13% of all AI articles.
Last updated: October 2025 • Based on 105,372 articles analyzed
| Rank | Publication | Total Readership | Articles |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Business Insider |
81.2M
|
2,028 |
| 2 | TechCrunch |
37.3M
|
2,961 |
| 3 | CNBC |
34.4M
|
1,757 |
| 4 | Forbes |
25.1M
|
5,777 |
| 5 | WIRED |
20.7M
|
586 |
| 6 | The Verge |
20.1M
|
1,134 |
| 7 | CNN |
20.1M
|
216 |
| 8 | New York Times |
14.3M
|
355 |
| 9 | Tom's Guide |
13.3M
|
432 |
| 10 | ZDNET |
12.5M
|
1,321 |
| 11 | Ars Technica |
10.6M
|
476 |
| 12 | TechRadar |
9.4M
|
999 |
| 13 | Engadget |
9.3M
|
663 |
| 14 | Tom's Hardware |
9.0M
|
345 |
| 15 | Futurism |
7.5M
|
199 |
| 16 | VentureBeat |
7.4M
|
1,787 |
| 17 | Times of India |
6.7M
|
319 |
| 18 | Fortune |
6.6M
|
1,265 |
| 19 | The Atlantic |
6.2M
|
93 |
| 20 | Windows Central |
5.5M
|
216 |
Data sourced from Delve–learn more.
Forbes published 5,777 AI articles (the most of any outlet), but each averaged just 4,351 readers. Meanwhile, WIRED published only 586 articles but averaged 35,354 readers per piece—8x more impactful. If you're choosing between volume and prestige, the data suggests focusing on outlets with proven engagement rather than just high posting frequency.
Seven of the top 10 outlets by readership are business-focused publications (Business Insider, CNBC, Forbes, Fortune). This indicates AI coverage has moved beyond tech enthusiasts and into mainstream business discourse. If you're pitching AI stories, leading with business implications rather than technical details will resonate with editors at these high-impact outlets.
CNN, New York Times, and The Atlantic each averaged over 60,000 readers per AI article. These outlets publish AI content sparingly (less than 100 articles per year), but when they do, the readership is massive. A single placement in one of these outlets is worth dozens of placements in lower-tier publications.
Readership represents the estimated number of people who actually read an article, which is typically much higher than simple circulation or impression counts. Unlike traditional PR metrics that rely on potential reach or impressions, readership shows actual audience engagement.
For this analysis, readership data comes from Memo, which Delve integrated in late 2024 as part of our parent company Marker Collective's push to replace "soft" volume-based metrics with hard readership numbers. Memo works directly with more than 10,000 news publications to gather readership data at the article, reporter, and topic level.
This shift from impressions to readership helps PR teams understand true media impact and make smarter decisions about which outlets, reporters, and story angles actually drive results.
Read more about why PR agencies are ditching impression metrics
Business Insider leads with 81 million readers across 2,028 AI articles, averaging 40,000 readers per article. This is more than double the readership of the second-place publication, TechCrunch.
CNN averages 92,920 readers per AI article, making it the highest-impact outlet. However, they publish infrequently (just 216 AI articles analyzed). For a balance of reach and accessibility, WIRED averages 48,524 readers per article while publishing more regularly.
Overall, AI coverage sentiment averages 70% positive. The most positive coverage comes from AP News (75%), VentureBeat (73%), and SiliconANGLE (73%), while more skeptical coverage appears in outlets like Futurism (39%) and The Guardian (48%).
Business publications (Business Insider, CNBC, Forbes) collectively drive 3x more AI coverage readership than pure tech publications. If your goal is maximum reach, prioritize business outlets. If you need to reach technical decision-makers, focus on TechCrunch, WIRED, and Ars Technica.
This analysis is based on 105,372 articles published between 2024 and 2025 that were tagged with the "Artificial Intelligence" theme by Delve's analysis system. Sentiment scores range from 0 (negative) to 1 (positive) and are calculated using natural language processing. Data is updated monthly.
