Last Christmas Eve, NewsBreak, a free app with roots in China that is the most downloaded news app in the United States, hosted an alarming piece about a small town shooting. It was headlined “Christmas Day Tragedy Strikes Bridgeton, New Jersey Amid Rising Gun Violence in Small Towns.”

The problem was, no such shooting took place. The Bridgeton, New Jersey police department posted a statement on Facebook on Dec. 27 dismissing the article — which it said was produced using AI technology…