Curio has successfully raised funds to develop Rio, an application featuring an 'AI news anchor'. There is a growing trend of AI being used in newsrooms, with outlets such as Newsweek, Sports Illustrated, Gizmodo, VentureBeat, and CNET experimenting with AI-written articles. While many traditional journalists may oppose this trend, some startups believe that AI can improve the news consumption experience for consumers. Rio is the latest entrant in this field, offering an AI-powered news anchor to help users engage with stories and topics of interest from credible sources.
Founded in 2016 by former BBC strategist Govind Balakrishnan and London lawyer Srikant Chakravarti, Curio is now launching Rio, a new project aimed at utilizing Curio's AI technology on a larger scale.
Originally a feature in the Curio app, Rio scans headlines from reputable newspapers and magazines such as Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, The Washington Post, and more. It compiles this content into a daily news summary that can be consumed through reading or listening.
Furthermore, Rio's team aims to prevent users from being stuck in a bubble of similar opinions by providing them with news that broadens their knowledge on various topics and motivates them to explore further.
During tests, Rio created a daily briefing that had a Story-like interface with graphics and links to news articles that users could tap on at the bottom of the screen. The articles were narrated using an AI voice, and users could advance through the headlines by tapping, similar to how one would navigate through a Story on a social media app like Instagram. It's important to note that the articles were full-length and not AI-generated summaries.
Curio assures that Rio's AI technology will not create false information and will only use content from trusted publishers. Rio will not use publisher content to train a large language model without obtaining explicit permission.
In addition to the briefing, you have the option to engage with Rio through an AI chatbot interface where you can inquire about various topics. Recommended topics, such as "TikTok ban" or "Ukraine War," are displayed as small tabs above the text input area. While we noticed that the AI could be slow to respond at times, overall it functioned as anticipated.
Additionally, Rio is willing to produce an audio episode to help answer any questions you may have if you are interested in learning more.
Balakrishnan, one of the co-founders, mentioned that Curio users have submitted over 20,000 questions to Rio since it was introduced as a feature in Curio last May. Due to the high demand from users, the company made the decision to separate this technology into its own app.
Many people are uncertain about what information is accurate due to the rise of AI. While AI sites can provide quick answers, relying on them without question can be risky. Chakravarti highlighted the scarcity of reliable information and the importance of accessing fact-checked and verified sources. Rio helps users navigate the news by turning trusted headlines into valuable knowledge. Using Rio to check the news can leave you feeling satisfied rather than discouraged.
It is uncertain if Rio has enough appeal to warrant its own separate product, but it is possible to envision a similar interface being incorporated into larger news aggregators such as Google News or Apple News, or even on individual publishers' websites. Additionally, Curio will still prioritize audio news in its offerings.
Other startups, such as Particle and Bulletin, are also using AI to improve the way people read and interact with news. Particle, created by former Twitter employees, has received $4.4 million in funding. Bulletin, another AI-powered news app, focuses on reducing clickbait and providing concise news summaries. Artifact, which previously utilized AI technology, was acquired by TechCrunch's parent company, Yahoo.