AI is starting to make its way into the newsroom, with various outlets experimenting with articles generated by AI. While some journalists may not approve of this approach, there are several startups that believe AI can improve the news consumption experience. One of the latest entrants in this space is Rio, an "AI news anchor" designed to help readers engage with stories and topics they are most interested in from reliable sources.
The new app, developed by the team behind AI-powered audio journalism startup Curio, was introduced at the South by Southwest Festival in Austin. It has received funding from Khosla Ventures and TED head, Chris Anderson, a backer of Curio as well. The exact amount of the funding round has not been disclosed yet.
Audio journalism app Curio can now create personalized episodes using AI
Curio, founded in 2016 by ex-BBC strategist Govind Balakrishnan and London lawyer Srikant Chakravarti, is the foundation for Rio's AI technology. Rio, initially a feature within Curio's app, aggregates news headlines from reputable publications like Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, and The Washington Post, and delivers a curated daily news briefing for users to read or listen to.
Rio's mission is to prevent users from getting trapped in an echo chamber by providing news that broadens their knowledge on various topics and encourages further exploration.
In trials, Rio presented a daily briefing in a Story-like interface with graphics and article links for users to tap and listen to narrations by an AI voice. Rio does not generate content but references material from trusted publishers partnered with Curio. The AI chatbot interface allows users to interact with Rio by asking about different topics of interest. The app suggests topics like "TikTok ban" or "Ukraine War" for users to explore further.
Balakrishnan mentioned that Curio users have asked Rio more than 20,000 questions since its launch as a feature last May, leading to the decision to develop Rio as a standalone app.
"AI has raised questions around what is true and what is not. While you can quickly obtain information from AI sources, blindly trusting them can be risky," stated Chakravarti during Rio's debut at SXSW. "Reliable information is scarce, and Rio guides you through the news from trustworthy sources, transforming headlines into knowledge that leaves you informed and satisfied."
Rio is currently available through early access and requires an invitation to join. Interested users can join the waitlist at rionews.ai with plans for public release in the upcoming summer. Other startups like Particle and Bulletin are also utilizing AI to enhance the news reading experience, showing the growing trend towards AI in news consumption.
