Gizmodo (/ɡɪzˈmoʊdoʊ/giz-MOH-doh) is a design, technology, science, andscience fiction website. It was originally launched as part of theGawker Media network run byNick Denton.Gizmodo also includes the sub-blogsio9 andEarther, which focus on pop-culture and environmentalism, respectively.
From April 2019 to June 2024,Gizmodo was part ofG/O Media.[4] In June 2024, the website was purchased by Swiss digital media company Keleops Media.[5][6]
The blog, launched in 2002, was originally edited byPeter Rojas, who was later recruited byWeblogs, Inc. to launch its similar technology blog,Engadget.[7][8][9] By mid-2004,Gizmodo andGawker together were bringing in revenue of approximately $6,500 per month.[10] In 2005,VNU Media and Gawker Media formed an alliance to republishGizmodo across Europe, with VNU translating the content into French, German, Dutch, Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese, and adding European-interest material.[11]
In 2011,Gizmodo underwent a major redesign.[12] In 2013, Matt Novak moved his Paleofuture blog toGizmodo fromSmithsonian.[13]
In 2015, the Gawker blogio9 was merged intoGizmodo. The staff ofio9 continued withGizmodo, posting articles on subjects covered by the website, including science fiction, fantasy, futurism, science, technology and astronomy.[14]
Gizmodo was one of six websites purchased byUnivision Communications in its acquisition of Gawker Media in 2016.[3] Univision in turn soldGizmodo and an array of sister websites toprivate equity firm Great Hill Partners in 2019; it combined the various former Gawker publications under the nameG/O Media.[4] In 2021,David M. Ewalt became theeditor-in-chief (EIC) ofGizmodo with Andrew Couts promoted to executive editor;[15] Ewalt left in 2023 forThe Messenger.[16] In January 2024, Rory Carroll was promoted from EIC ofJalopnik to group editor of bothJalopnik andGizmodo.[1] In March 2024, Rose Pastore was promoted fromGizmodo's deputy editor to its executive editor.[1][17]
G/O Media's leadership, introduced after the purchase from Univision, was frequently criticized by employees. Complaints included closer advertiser relationships, lack of diversity, and suppression of reporting about the company itself.[18] The company also saw multiple disputes with theemployee union GMG Union.[19][20][21] On June 29, 2023, G/O Media implemented a "modest test" ofartificial intelligence-generated content on its websites, such asio9. The move sparked backlash from GMG Union members, citing AI's track record of false statements and plagiarism from its training data; basic errors in the generated content also attracted attention.[22][23]
In June 2024,Gizmodo was purchased by the Swiss digital media company Keleops Media.[5][6] It was the company's "first U.S. acquisition"; Keleops "owns several French-language technology titles, including legacy brands01net and Presse-citron".[24] Mark Stenberg ofAdweek wrote that "financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The entireGizmodo staff will receive offer letters to stay with the company, and Keleops plans to expand the team in the near future".[24] Stenberg reported that, per Keleops CEO Jean-Guillaume Kleis, "the company has no immediate plans to changeGizmodo, either from a commercial or editorial perspective" and will instead "work withGizmodo editor-in-chief Rory Carroll to discuss its forward-looking editorial plan and identify growth areas to support with investment".[24] Claudia Cohen ofLe Figaro wrote that "it is rare for a European media group to get its hands on an American player, who is also specialized in the field of tech". Kleis told the French newspaper that they "paid the price to enter the American market through a good door".[25] Keleops would later buyKotaku from G/O Media the following June, reuniting the two publications.[26]
In September 2025,Gizmodo launched their redesigned website.[27]
In September 2008,Gizmodo Brazil was launched with Portuguese content.[40][better source needed]
In September 2011,Gizmodo UK was launched withFuture, to cover British news.[41]Gizmodo UK was later shut down in September 2020,[42] with all web links redirecting to Gizmodo.com.
io9 is ascience fiction andfantasy pop-culture focused sub-blog which was launched as a standaloneblog in 2008 by then editorAnnalee Newitz under Gawker Media,[43] before being folded underGizmodo in 2015 as part of a reorganization under parent company Gawker.[44] In 2021, James Whitbrook replaced Jill Pantozzi as the site's deputy editor.[45]
Earther is an environmental news sub-blog which was launched in September 2017.[46] Earther launched with the mission to chronicle three main topics: "The future of Earth," "The future of humans on Earth," and "The future of life on Earth."[47] Founding managing editor Maddie Stone said that the site was created because it "felt like a salient and important time to create a destination for environmental news where folks can go to read up on the latest studies, but also hear the latest news about how natural disasters are affecting people, the big important environmental policies being raised around the world, and some of the biggest conservation stories."[46]
During its lifetime, former Earther journalists Yessenia Funues, Brian Kahn, and Molly Taft wonSEAL Awards for their environmental reporting.[48][49][50]
As of broader G/O Media layoffs in November 2023 the last member of the sub-blog, Angely Mercado, was laid off which meant that there were then no staff listed as working for the sub-blog.[51][52][53]
Richard Blakeley, a videographer forGizmodo's publisher, Gawker Media, disrupted several presentations held at CES in 2008.[54][55] Blakely secretly turned off TVs usingTV-B-Gone remote controls, resulting in his being barred from CES 2008, and any future CES events.
In April 2010,Gizmodo came into possession of what was later known to be a prototype of theiPhone 4 smartphone by Apple.[56] The site purchased the device for US$5,000 from Brian J. Hogan, who had found it unattended at a bar in Redwood City, California, a month earlier.[57][58] UC Berkeley student Sage Robert, an acquaintance of Hogan, allegedly helped him sell the phone after failing to track down the owner. With Apple confirming its provenance, bloggers such asJohn Gruber and Ken Sweet speculated that this transaction may have violated the California Penal Code.[59]
On April 26, afterGizmodo returned the iPhone to Apple, upon Apple's request California's Rapid Enforcement Allied Computer Team executed a search warrant on editor Jason Chen's home and seized computers, hard drives, servers, cameras, notes, and a file of business cards, under direction fromSan Mateo County’s Chief Deputy District Attorney Stephen Wagstaffe.[58][60][61] Since then,Gizmodo and the prosecution have agreed that aspecial master will review the contents of the items seized and determine if they contain relevant information.[62][63]Gizmodo was since barred from Apple-hosted events and product launches until August 2014, when they were invited once again to Apple's September 2014 "Wish we could say more" event.[64]
In March 2025, formerActivision Blizzard CEOBobby Kotick sued G/O Media for defamation, claiming articles in Kotaku and Gizmodo which noted his interest in acquiringTikTok repeated claims of widespread workplace misconduct on his watch at Activision without noting that the claims were investigated and dismissed by state regulators. Kotick said he and his representatives repeatedly asked for corrections to the articles.[65]
^Gillin, Paul (2007). "Influencer Profile: The Gadget King".The New Influencers: A Marketer's Guide to the New Social Media. Linden Publishing. pp. 57–61.ISBN9781610351102.
^"Company History".株式会社メディアジーン (Mediagene Inc.). April 4, 2017. RetrievedJune 4, 2024.July 2006: Launched GIZMODO JAPAN, the Japanese version of the media blog GIZMODO published in the U.S. and eight European countries
^"Gizmodo Japan".メディアジーン (Mediagene). December 15, 2021. RetrievedJune 4, 2024.
^Myslewski, Rik (June 4, 2010)."Search begins on seized Gizmodo journo kit".Der Ring des Gizmodophonelungen. San Francisco, California: The Register.Archived from the original on March 20, 2019. RetrievedAugust 10, 2017.
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