Lifeboat Foundation

• China’s state press agency has developed “AI news anchors,” avatars of real-life news presenters which read out news as it is typed.
• It developed the anchors with Chinese search engine giant Sogou.
• There was no detail given as to how exactly the anchors were made, and one expert said they fell into the “uncanny valley,” when avatars have an unsettling resemblance to humans.

China’s state-run press agency Xinhua has unveiled what it claims are the world’s first AI-generated news anchors.

Xinhua revealed the anchors at the World Internet Conference on Thursday. Modeled on two real presenters, the agency showcased two AI-generated anchors, one who speaks Chinese and another who speaks English.