An AI news anchor is a computer-generated presenter, a synthetic face and voice that reads news scripts on video. Documented cases include Xinhua's anchors shown in November 2018, Kuwait News's Fedha in April 2023, and Odisha Television's Lisa in July 2023, and surveys by the Reuters Institute show audiences are more comfortable with AI when humans stay in the loop. Whether the presenter is disclosed as synthetic is the main question for readers and viewers.
Key takeaways
- A virtual anchor changes who or what appears on screen, not who decides what is reported; editors and scriptwriters still carry that work.
- Three launches are well documented: Xinhua with Sogou (November 2018), Kuwait News (April 10, 2023), and OTV in India (July 9, 2023).
- The Reuters Institute's 2025 survey found audiences more comfortable with uses where humans remain in the loop, and expecting AI to make news less trustworthy on balance.
- CBC/Radio-Canada's 2023 guidance promises disclosure before audiences see or hear AI-generated content.
What the term covers
The phrase "AI news anchor" is used loosely. In the launches reviewed here, it means an avatar: a rendered human-like figure with synthesized speech and lip movement that delivers a bulletin. It does not mean software that decides which stories to cover, verifies facts, or edits a newscast. Those tasks remain with editors, producers, and reporters unless an outlet says otherwise, and the launch coverage did not describe an automated editorial process.
The distinction matters because the label "AI" can describe very different things. A text-to-speech voice reading a human-written script, a face animated from a recording of a real presenter, and a fully generated character each raise different questions about consent, accuracy, and disclosure.
Three documented launches
Xinhua, China's state news agency, introduced two anchors with the search company Sogou at the World Internet Conference in Wuzhen in November 2018. Reports at the time said the figures were modeled on real Xinhua presenters, and the agency claimed they could deliver news with an effect close to that of human anchors. Some coverage, citing the agency, noted that the presenters read text fed into the system rather than reporting independently.
Kuwait News introduced Fedha on April 10, 2023, as a virtual presenter on its Twitter account. According to Al Jazeera's report, Fedha introduced itself in classical Arabic and was meant to read online news bulletins, and a deputy editor described the project as a test of what AI could offer. The report gave no details of the tools used.
On July 9, 2023, Odisha Television (OTV) in India presented Lisa, which began in Odia and English. OTV's own digital executives acknowledged that Lisa was not as fluent as a human presenter and that training in Odia was difficult, according to trade press coverage of the launch.
| Case | Date | What the outlet said | Left open in public coverage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Xinhua and Sogou anchors | November 2018 | Modeled on real presenters, able to deliver bulletins | How much of the output was automated; when regular use would start |
| Kuwait News, Fedha | April 10, 2023 | First AI-generated presenter at the outlet, a test of AI content | Tools, voice method, review process |
| OTV, Lisa | July 9, 2023 | Multilingual in principle, Odia and English at launch | Long-term role, audience response |
The "first" claims in this area overlap. Coverage of Lisa notes that other Indian and Chinese outlets had launched digital anchors earlier, so "first" is best read as "first for that outlet, region, or language."
What audiences say
The Reuters Institute's 2025 Digital News Report covers 48 markets. Fieldwork by YouGov ran from mid-January to the end of February 2025 using online questionnaires with quota samples, and the institute notes that such non-probability samples cannot carry a conventional margin of error. The report found public doubt about AI-made news in most countries, with comfort higher when journalists use AI in a supporting role than when news is mainly produced by AI. Respondents were asked about the expected effects of AI on news, and the net scores were negative for trustworthiness (minus 18), accuracy (minus 8), and transparency (minus 8), and positive for cost (plus 29) and timeliness (plus 16).
The report concludes that audiences are more comfortable with uses where humans remain in the loop. It also found wide differences between countries: 44 percent comfort with automatically generated news in India against 11 percent in the UK. The report did not isolate virtual presenters as a separate category, so these figures describe AI in news in general.
One newsroom's written rules
On June 12, 2023, CBC News editor-in-chief Brodie Fenlon published preliminary guidance for CBC/Radio-Canada journalists. Among its points: no CBC journalism will be published or broadcast without direct human involvement and oversight; AI-generated content will not be presented without full disclosure, with audiences told before they listen, view, or read; and AI will not be used to recreate the voice or likeness of a CBC journalist except to illustrate how the technology works, in exceptional cases with the approval of the individual and the standards office. The guidance was described as preliminary and subject to change, so it should be read as a position taken in 2023, not as current policy without a check of CBC's present standards.
A viewer's checklist for a synthetic presenter
- Is the presenter labeled as synthetic in the video itself, not only in a footnote or a social post?
- Does the outlet name a responsible editor or standards policy?
- If the figure resembles a real person, is there a statement that the person agreed?
- Does the script come with the same sourcing and corrections practice as human-read stories?
- Is the format used for routine bulletins, or for stories where tone and judgment carry weight?
FAQ
Does an AI anchor write the news it reads?
Not necessarily. In the launches reviewed, coverage described avatars delivering bulletins, and reports on Xinhua's anchors said they read text supplied to them. Any automation upstream of the script would have to be stated by the outlet.
Which outlet had the first AI news anchor?
It depends on the definition and the region. Xinhua presented anchors in November 2018, Kuwait News called Fedha its first in April 2023, and OTV described Lisa as Odisha's first in July 2023.
Are viewers comfortable with AI presenters?
Surveys have not measured virtual anchors on their own. The Reuters Institute's 2025 data shows more comfort with human-led uses of AI than with news mainly made by AI, and comfort varies by country.
Do outlets have to disclose that a presenter is synthetic?
This article did not review legal disclosure rules in Canada or the United States. Some newsrooms, such as CBC/Radio-Canada, have published their own disclosure commitments.
Related reading
- Recent AI news coverage
- Ethical questions raised by AI systems
- Background on OpenAI's research lab
- How AI is used in education
More in AI Tools and Industry.
Last verified: October 2026
Sources
- Digital News Report 2025, Executive summary, Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, 2025
- How CBC News will manage the challenge of AI, Brodie Fenlon, CBC News, June 12, 2023
- Digital News Report 2025, Methodology, Reuters Institute, 2025
- AI-generated news presenter appears in Kuwait, Al Jazeera, April 10, 2023
- Xinhua news agency debuts AI anchors in partnership with Sogou, The Star (Malaysia), November 8, 2018
- Chinese state media debuts AI news anchors, The Jakarta Post, November 9, 2018
- OTV launches Odisha's first AI news anchor Lisa, afaqs, July 2023