[3] The website secured an investment of $50 million from American businessmen Mark Penn, Victor Ganzi, Josh Harris, James Tisch, and Thomas Peterffy[4][5] and acquired the assets of Grid News prior to its launch on May 15, 2023.

[10] CNBC reported the site scaled back its employee cuts and planned on launching a vertical called Messenger TV, even with its liquidity and cash flow problems, and estimated a surge in revenue for the year.

[5][8][13] According to former staffers, the website often functioned similarly to a content farm, with reporters aggregating stories from other news sources and social media.

[14] As the website developed, it started producing more original content, including stories on the New York City Police Department conducting a wellness check on a fundraiser for Mayor Eric Adams[16] and on Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce "quietly hanging out" in July.

[14] In December 2023, Semafor reported that Finkelstein had ordered coverage of Donald Trump's civil fraud trial in November to be taken off the home page, which sparked a backlash from some editors.

The sports section was led by former editorial director of The Athletic Dan Kauffman, while former Gizmodo editor-in-chief David M. Ewalt served as the website's technology and science editor.

[20] The site's revenue model generated only $3 million by near the end of 2023, as the company hemorrhaged cash while it contemplated ambitious expansion into products such as Messenger TV.