Axel Springer wants to double value by 2030 with AI-driven journalism

Axel Springer is aiming to double its value within five years, with a bold plan built around artificial intelligence, platform independence and clearly stated political values.

The ambition was laid out by CEO Mathias Döpfner at the company’s first major strategy meeting since its transformation back into a private media business. More than 100 top executives gathered in Berlin to hear how Springer plans to position itself as the leading provider of AI-powered journalism in what Döpfner called “the free world”.

“Journalism remains our core, but it’s evolving,” said Döpfner. “The business model of maximising clicks and advertising is over. We must focus on deep and long-term relationships with our users.” That means prioritising direct access to audiences over reliance on third-party platforms such as Google and Facebook. “Dependence on search and social is a weakness. Owning the audience is a strength.”

Springer, whose media assets include Bild, Welt, Business Insider and Politico, wants to use AI to transform how content is created and consumed—seamlessly moving between text, audio and video. But Döpfner was clear that AI would not replace human journalists. “It’s not either or. It’s both. Who combines the best of both intelligences in the most complementary way will win,” he said. “Digital is the new print. AI is the new digital.”

The second pillar of the company’s strategy focuses on its fast-growing e-commerce and media marketing businesses, Bonial, Idealo and Awin. Döpfner called these operations Springer’s “economic backbone” and said they offered major growth opportunities. “The best for these e-commerce-driven media companies is yet to come,” he said.

He also set out plans to establish a third strategic pillar, what he called a “high-margin, hyper-growth business” outside journalism and marketing. It will be based on the company’s core strengths – content, subscription, advertising, mass reach and technology – and echo its earlier investment in digital classifieds. “We have to find new gold,” said Döpfner.

He acknowledged that trust in journalism had been damaged and said rebuilding it was an essential part of Springer’s future. “We live in an age of permanent uncertainty. Where doubt is the default. And the deepest human need – more than speed, more than convenience, more than anything else – is trust,” he said.

To that end, Springer has reaffirmed its commitment to its core values, now sharpened with a more international outlook. These include support for democracy, free speech, a free market economy, the rule of law, the transatlantic alliance and the right of Israel to exist. The company also explicitly opposes antisemitism, extremism and all forms of discrimination.

Döpfner said that stating these beliefs did not compromise journalistic independence. “It’s transparent and honest and it creates trust if you disclose your fundamental core values,” he said.