{"id":2944,"date":"2026-10-20T12:59:03","date_gmt":"2026-10-20T12:59:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tarbellcenter.org\/?post_type=news&p=2944"},"modified":"2026-10-20T12:59:03","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T12:59:03","slug":"transformer-to-spin-out-from-tarbell","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.tarbellcenter.org\/blog\/transformer-to-spin-out-from-tarbell","title":{"rendered":"Transformer to spin out from Tarbell"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

October 20th, 2026 \u2014 Transformer<\/em><\/a>, the publication dedicated to covering the power and politics of transformative AI, will spin out from the Tarbell Center for AI Journalism and become its own independent organization. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Originally incubated by Tarbell in 2024, Transformer<\/em> has quickly established itself as a leading outlet covering the power and politics of transformative AI. Transformer<\/em>\u2019s scoops and analysis are read by staff across Congress, the executive branch and frontier AI companies, and are regularly cited by top outlets including the New York Times<\/em>, the New Yorker<\/em> and the Washington Post<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having successfully built a large audience of key AI policy decision-makers, with its newsletter doubling in size over the past year, the publication will enter its next phase of growth as an independent entity, with the spin-out expected to complete by the end of 2027. Tarbell, which will continue to serve as Transformer<\/em>\u2019s publisher until then, will support Transformer<\/em> with a substantial exit grant, covering Transformer<\/em>\u2019s operations through the end of 2028.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Founder and editor of Transformer<\/em>, Shakeel Hashim, said: \u201cWe’re very grateful to Tarbell for supporting us from the very beginning. What started as a one-person, once-a-week newsletter has grown into a publication with our own team, audience, and identity. As we build on our mission to become the leading magazine covering AI policy, we\u2019re excited to become a standalone entity \u2014 a setup that will better allow us to execute on our ambitious growth plans.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Founder and Executive Director of Tarbell, Cillian Crosson, said: \u201cOne of Tarbell\u2019s goals is to give reporters and new publications a running start. We\u2019re very proud to have incubated Transformer<\/em> and helped it to grow into the powerful publication and voice it is today. We look forward to seeing Shakeel and the whole team continue to grow with their deep reporting on AI, insightful analysis, and unique delivery.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Media inquiries<\/strong>: media@tarbell.org<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About<\/strong> Tarbell Center for AI Journalism<\/strong>
<\/a>As concerns about AI development and investment rapidly grow across governments, media and even technology companies themselves, questions and scrutiny of the industry have never been more critical. Tarbell aims to drive this focus through supporting independent journalism that demystifies the debates around AI, holds the companies and people building it to account, and fosters the discourse necessary to chart a path that benefits society. The Tarbell Center for AI Journalism is a US 501(c)(3) nonprofit that supports journalism helping society navigate advanced AI, through the Tarbell Fellowship and Grants programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About<\/strong> Transformer<\/em><\/strong>
<\/a>Transformer<\/em> is a publication about the power and politics of transformative AI. Through reporting, analysis and opinion, we aim to help our audience understand what\u2019s happening in AI and why it matters. We provide decision makers with the information and insight needed to anticipate and steer the impacts of transformative AI.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After two years of continued growth, the AI policy publication will become an independent organization by the end of 2027","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","news_tag":[32],"class_list":["post-2944","news","type-news","status-publish","hentry","news_tag-press-releases"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"Transformer to spin out from Tarbell – Tarbell Center for AI Journalism<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tarbellcenter.org\/blog\/transformer-to-spin-out-from-tarbell\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Transformer to spin out from Tarbell – Tarbell Center for AI Journalism\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"After two years of continued growth, the AI policy publication will become an independent organization by the end of 2027\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.tarbellcenter.org\/blog\/transformer-to-spin-out-from-tarbell\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Tarbell Center for AI Journalism\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.tarbellcenter.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Transformer-logo-4.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2001\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"403\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tarbellcenter.org\\\/blog\\\/transformer-to-spin-out-from-tarbell\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tarbellcenter.org\\\/blog\\\/transformer-to-spin-out-from-tarbell\",\"name\":\"Transformer to spin out from Tarbell – Tarbell Center for AI Journalism\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tarbellcenter.org\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tarbellcenter.org\\\/blog\\\/transformer-to-spin-out-from-tarbell#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tarbellcenter.org\\\/blog\\\/transformer-to-spin-out-from-tarbell#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tarbellcenter.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/Transformer-logo-4.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-10-20T12:59:03+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tarbellcenter.org\\\/blog\\\/transformer-to-spin-out-from-tarbell#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tarbellcenter.org\\\/blog\\\/transformer-to-spin-out-from-tarbell\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tarbellcenter.org\\\/blog\\\/transformer-to-spin-out-from-tarbell#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tarbellcenter.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/Transformer-logo-4.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tarbellcenter.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/Transformer-logo-4.png\",\"width\":2001,\"height\":403},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tarbellcenter.org\\\/blog\\\/transformer-to-spin-out-from-tarbell#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tarbellcenter.org\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Transformer to spin out from Tarbell\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tarbellcenter.org\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tarbellcenter.org\\\/\",\"name\":\"Tarbell Center for AI Journalism\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tarbellcenter.org\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Transformer to spin out from Tarbell – Tarbell Center for AI Journalism","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.tarbellcenter.org\/blog\/transformer-to-spin-out-from-tarbell","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Transformer to spin out from Tarbell – Tarbell Center for AI Journalism","og_description":"After two years of continued growth, the AI policy publication will become an independent organization by the end of 2027","og_url":"https:\/\/www.tarbellcenter.org\/blog\/transformer-to-spin-out-from-tarbell","og_site_name":"Tarbell Center for AI Journalism","og_image":[{"width":2001,"height":403,"url":"https:\/\/www.tarbellcenter.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Transformer-logo-4.png","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.tarbellcenter.org\/blog\/transformer-to-spin-out-from-tarbell","url":"https:\/\/www.tarbellcenter.org\/blog\/transformer-to-spin-out-from-tarbell","name":"Transformer to spin out from Tarbell – Tarbell Center for AI Journalism","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tarbellcenter.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tarbellcenter.org\/blog\/transformer-to-spin-out-from-tarbell#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tarbellcenter.org\/blog\/transformer-to-spin-out-from-tarbell#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.tarbellcenter.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Transformer-logo-4.png","datePublished":"2026-10-20T12:59:03+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tarbellcenter.org\/blog\/transformer-to-spin-out-from-tarbell#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.tarbellcenter.org\/blog\/transformer-to-spin-out-from-tarbell"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.tarbellcenter.org\/blog\/transformer-to-spin-out-from-tarbell#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.tarbellcenter.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Transformer-logo-4.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.tarbellcenter.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Transformer-logo-4.png","width":2001,"height":403},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.tarbellcenter.org\/blog\/transformer-to-spin-out-from-tarbell#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.tarbellcenter.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Transformer to spin out from Tarbell"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.tarbellcenter.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.tarbellcenter.org\/","name":"Tarbell Center for AI Journalism","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.tarbellcenter.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarbellcenter.org\/api\/wp\/v2\/news\/2944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarbellcenter.org\/api\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarbellcenter.org\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarbellcenter.org\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarbellcenter.org\/api\/wp\/v2\/news_tag?post=2944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}