Yesterday, Futurism published a months-long investigation into a little-known company called Brown Brothers Media — a sprawling media empire that buys struggling news publications and turns them into AI-powered content mills, while engaging in deeply dishonest practices including the widespread use of fake writers and the mass publishing of fabricated reporting and first-hand accounts.
BBM was founded in the early 2020s. At the time, it operated around a limited number of brands, several of which were founded by the Brown brothers — Justin, Lachlan, and Brendan Brown — themselves. Those brands included Brendan’s Global English Editing and Expert Editor, Lachlan’s Hack Spirit, and Justin’s Ideapod. Justin also cofounded a BBM site called The Vessel alongside a Brazilian shaman named Rudá Iandé, who is currently listed as BBM’s “Creative Director” and whose personal website is listed as a “Brown Brothers Media company.”
Other earlier BBM sites include Nomadrs, Twinflamesly, Love Connection, Never Liked It Anyway, and a Lachlan-cofounded blog called The Considered Man. Also part of the BBM network is Jeanette Brown, a website dedicated to the teachings of the mother of the Brown brothers, as well as a site called Dr. Wolf Media (it does not appear to be related to the feminist writer and conspiracy theorist Naomi Wolf.)
As we found in our reporting, the more BBM leaned into a heavily automated AI process, the more websites it purchased and transformed into AI-powered content mills. These publications range from established news sites to niche hobbyist blogs and more.
Here’s a list of websites we’ve linked to the BBM network:
- Ideapod (ideapod.com)
- Global English Editing (geediting.com)
- Expert Editor (experteditor.com.au)
- Hack Spirit (hackspirit.com)
- The Vessel (thevessel.io)
- Silicon Canals (siliconcanals.com)
- VegOut Magazine (vegoutmag.com)
- Direct Message News, also referred to as DM News (dmnews.com)
- Former Space Media Network websites including Space Daily (spacedaily.com), Solar Daily (solardaily.com), Terra Daily (terradaily.com), Mars Daily (marsdaily.com), Moon Daily (moondaily.com), Space Travel (space-travel.com), SpaceMart (spacemart.com), Space War (spacewar.com), Energy Daily (energy-daily.com), Nuclear Power Daily (nuclearpowerdaily.com) GPS Daily (gpsdaily.com)
- Science Blog (scienceblog.com)
- Blog Herald (blogherald.com)
- Make Tech Easier (maketecheasier.com)
- The Law Dictionary (thelawdictionary.org)
- Scandinavian Standard (scandinaviastandard.com)
- Baseline Mag (baselinemag.com)
- Bible Scripture (biblescripture.net)
- The Artful Age, formerly titled Artful Parent (theartfulage.com)
- Small Business Bonfire (smallbusinessbonfire.com)
- Small Biz Technology (smallbiztechnology.com)
- Underground Reporter (undergroundreporter.org)
- Hurry the Food Up (hurrythefoodup.co.uk)
- Eluxe Magazine (eluxemagazine.com)
- Tweak Your Biz (tweakyourbiz.com)
- Killer Startups (killerstartups.com)
- News Reports (newsreports.com)
- Jeanette Brown (jeanettebrown.net)
- Rudá Iandé (rudaiande.com)
- Nomadrs (nomadrs.com)
- The Considered Man (theconsideredman.org)
- Twinflamesly (twinflamesly.com)
- Love Connection (loveconnection.org)
- Never Liked It Anyway (neverlikeditanyway.com)
- StudyGS (studygs.net)
The network is also connected to several AI companies, including Mosquito Fleet, Tippa Fleet, and Cognitive AI Systems Limited.
Do you know anything about the Brown brothers’ business activities, including partnerships with other media companies, or if they’re operating other domains we aren’t yet aware of? Reach out: tips@futurism.com. We can keep you anonymous.
More on the Brown Brothers: How Three Brothers Built an AI Slop Empire by Buying Legitimate News Sites and Turning Them Into Zombie Content Farms That They Say Get 50 Million Page Views per Month