February 2, 2026
People vs. Pixels
Editor of UploadVR on why he was fired
UploadVR boss fired after pushing back on robot writer — fans erupt
TLDR: UploadVR’s editor says he was fired after opposing an AI writer without safeguards like a bot-off button and human-first story assignments. Comments split between cheering his pro-human stance and saying bots should handle boring press releases, igniting a broader trust-and-transparency fight over the future of tech news.
UploadVR’s Editor-in-Chief says he got fired after objecting to a test run of an AI “bot writer.” He wanted three guardrails: clearly labeled bot posts, super short bot write-ups, and a “human-only” toggle so readers could skip robot content. Plus, he asked that humans pick stories first and the bot only step in if no one wanted them. The community went full popcorn mode. One camp crowned him Human Hero of VR, arguing trust matters and people don’t want robots competing with real reporters. They loved his line, “the only thing that’s real about VR is the people,” turning it into meme T‑shirts and reaction GIFs. Another camp rolled their eyes, calling it old-school gatekeeping and saying bots can summarize press releases faster anyway. The biggest brawl: whether his reply-all style email to industry contacts was principled whistleblowing or a career self-own. Over on Reddit and X, fans begged for a simple bot-off button, while jokers mocked the plan with “AI writes, humans edit—what could go wrong?” and “Toggle is the new DLC.” It’s a mood: half defending journalism, half craving TL;DR news. Read the editor’s full post here: link.
Key Points
- •The Editor in Chief of UploadVR opposed a planned public test of a clearly disclosed AI author for the site.
- •He proposed conditions: bot content should be brief, non-opinionated, distinct in voice, and much shorter than source press releases.
- •He requested a reader toggle to hide bot-generated submissions and advocated human right of refusal before assigning topics to the bot.
- •He said these concerns were not addressed before colleagues planned to proceed with the test.
- •After emailing concerns to colleagues and industry contacts, he was called by his boss and fired.