Caine Prize clears Zimbabwean author accused of using AI to write winning story

The Caine Prize for African Writing has cleared Zimbabwean author Simbarashe Kundizeza of using AI to write his winning short story, The Blue Fighter, after a month-long investigation, the Guardian reported. The story won the £10,000 prize on 6 October.

Five days later, the Atlantic published an article by Vauhini Vara saying the AI-detection tool Pangram had judged the story almost entirely AI-generated. The prize's review included interviews with the author, the 2026 judges and The Shallow Tales Review, where the story first appeared, as well as independent metadata analysis of his drafts. "From our detailed investigation, we feel the evidence is clear: The Blue Fighter was human-written," said chair Ellah Wakatama.

Kundizeza, who had denied using generative AI, said he was relieved. The accusation had drawn outrage online, with many saying Black and African writers were being unfairly singled out.