Add as a preferred source on Google WWE has become the target of a new controversy in recent days after Mark Shapiro, president of TKO, said that Nick Khan and Triple H are using artificial intelligence on matters tied to the company’s storylines.
The comment came during a TKO meeting and was first reported by Brandon Thurston of POST Wrestling. According to Shapiro, AI has been used to understand which stories and which superstars are resonating best with the audience, as well as to identify regions where certain names are strongest.
“Nick Khan and Triple H are using AI for storylines with the WWE. What’s resonating? What superstars are resonating? In what pockets of the country are they resonating? That helps us with, obviously, our content, our editorial, our creative, our mapping, our touring, and of course, maximizing revenue and getting our product out to the fans most in need of it.”
However, the remark ended up being interpreted by many fans as confirmation that WWE was using AI to directly write its stories. Later, Thurston released a longer excerpt from the meeting, making it clear that the use mentioned involves mainly data, metrics, and audience analysis.
Andrew Schleimer, CFO of TKO, also said the company is still in the early stages in this area, running tests and pilots in both WWE and UFC. One example mentioned was a tool built with Netflix to compare audience data, engagement, and performance for NXT content.
Even so, Shapiro made it clear that artificial intelligence will be an important priority for TKO going forward. The executive cited tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, and said the company plans to invest real money in technology.
In other words, so far, there is no indication that AI is replacing WWE’s creative team. The use, by all indications, is more tied to audience analysis, internal efficiency, and business decisions.