Bild, Germany’s best-selling newspaper, is cutting hundreds of jobs and replacing its editors with artificial intelligence (AI) as it attempts to turn a corner following a string of sex scandals, writes The Telegraph.

The tabloid newspaper has embarked on a radical overhaul of its business model as it looks to stem a decline in readership and rehabilitate its reputation.

Bild, which is owned by publishing giant Axel Springer, told staff it was making sweeping redundancies as part of a move away from print towards digital journalism.

The exact number of job cuts has not been disclosed, but is believed to be in the low hundreds. Bild said many of the roles will be replaced with AI.

In a message to staff, seen by the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine, bosses said the company would “unfortunately part ways with colleagues whose jobs will be replaced by AI and/or automated processes in the digital world, or who do not find themselves in this new line-up with their current skills”. They added: “Roles such as editors, print production journalists, proofreaders, photo editors and assistants will no longer exist like they do today”.