France’s Goncourt Prize Drops a Novel Over Claims AI Wrote It
The Académie Goncourt removed Thélyson Orélien’s C’était ça ou mourir from the first selection for France’s top literary prize due to claims that AI wrote most of it and that Orélien plagiarized earlier texts. He denies using AI.
September 28, 2026
Credit: Dhiemas Afif Febriyan on Unsplash
The Académie Goncourt has dropped Thélyson Orélien’s novel C’était ça ou mourir from the initial selection for France’s prestigious literary award. In a statement on Friday, the academy cited both plagiarism by the author and analyses suggesting that AI had likely authored most of the book.
What the Academy Said
The academy emphasized the "convergent result of several analyses by trustworthy researchers and journalists," indicating that the novel is "in all likelihood very largely the product of an artificial intelligence." They also highlighted instances of plagiarism committed by Orélien over time, which recently came to light.
The statement, as translated by TNW, underscores the academy's commitment to promoting and rewarding literature: "We neither endorse nor give our blessing in any way to the creation of texts generated with the help of AI." They will make no further comments and will announce their second selection on October 6th, with the winner to be revealed on November 4th, according to the Guardian.
Philippe Claudel, the academy's president, had previously expressed caution regarding AI claims, but subsequent plagiarism reports seemingly shifted the academy's stance.
How the Claims Started
The controversy began on September 21st when an anonymous X account, referring to Anthropic’s AI, accused Orélien's novel of being "almost entirely" written by AI. This account, identified as Balance ton Claude, claimed to have used Pangram, an AI detection tool, to reach this conclusion.
Le Figaro later revealed that one of its columnists, essayist Samuel Fitoussi, was behind the account. Fitoussi confirmed running the account in collaboration with others, according to Reuters.
Some experts question the reliability of AI detection tools, and French media found other detectors that rated the novel as highly likely to be human-written.
The Author and His Publisher Respond
Orélien, 38, refutes the AI allegation, attributing the novel's rhythmic patterns to Haitian and Caribbean language traditions. "The imagery, repetition, and rhythm are a living language, they are mine," he stated in an interview with Libération.
He has not responded to the plagiarism claims. His publisher, Éditions du Boréal, expressed concern about the plagiarism allegations but could not confirm or deny the AI claims, according to the Guardian.