Macmillan Staff Say the Publisher Threw a Party for a Workplace AI Assistant That Was Later Killed

A major book publisher introduced an AI chatbot called NOA to its staff with a celebratory party in early 2024, but the tool proved unhelpful and unreliable, and was shut down by late 2025. The incident illustrates a broader tension in publishing, where company leadership encourages employees to adopt AI tools while the same publishers are suing AI companies for copyright infringement and bestselling authors are threatening to leave traditional publishing over AI concerns. Staff at multiple major publishers report being pushed to use AI for creative and editorial tasks, even as these tools produce poor results and create confusion about whether AI should be used for publishing work at all. The contradiction highlights how publishing executives are pursuing AI adoption while their own authors, employees, and legal teams are resisting it.