The Académie Goncourt has removed Thélyson Orélien's novel, C’était ça ou mourir (It Was That or Die), from the longlist for France’s most prestigious literary prize. The decision, announced on Friday, follows claims that the book was "almost entirely" written by AI, which emerged on X on 21 September.
The academy stated its decision was "driven by the desire to preserve the integrity of the Goncourt prize and the academy itself, whose central role is to promote and honour literature written by women and men." It also referred to "plagiarisms of which its author has been guilty over time and which have just been revealed," alongside analyses highlighting the book's likely AI origin.
Mr Orélien, 38, has denied the allegations, calling them racially motivated. He told Libération that he uses traditional Haitian and Caribbean language and rhythms. The novel's original publisher, Le Éditions du Boréal, said it was unable to confirm or deny the allegations and urged restraint.
The anonymous X account, Balance ton Claude, which initially made the AI claims, was later identified as belonging to Samuel Fitoussi, a columnist for Le Figaro. Questions have been raised about the accuracy of the AI detection software used in the initial claim, Pangram, with other programmes reportedly identifying the book as human-written.