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The Times Co. Greets Its Barbarians at the Gate

Yesterday, a pair of activist investors took it upon themselves to remind the New York Times Company of its A.I. potential (as if it needed reminding). Of course, whatever form that will take will likely determine the future of newspapers in the A.I. era.

Meredith Kopit Levien
Fivespan’s letter—and the promise of Netflix- or Spotify-level multiples for a 174-year-old newspaper company—seemed to tickle the erogenous zones of those industry insiders who have become downright evangelical about the transformative potential of A.I. Photo: David Dee Delgado/Getty Images for The New York Times
Dylan Byers
August 27, 2025

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Earlier this week, a pair of activist investors announced that they had built a small stake in The New York Times Company, and would push it to more aggressively integrate artificial intelligence to fuel subscription growth. Dylan Haggart and Sarah Coyne, the cofounders of Fivespan Partners, said the Times had an A.I. “tailwind” that could “more than double the company’s long-term revenue and profit potential.” They even argued that the Times had a “comparable opportunity” to Netflix and Spotify—“A.I. beneficiaries” that trade at a premium, due to their “growth potential and market dominance.”