Bernama, Xinhua To Explore Deeper Cooperation In Artificial Intelligence

From Muhammad Adil Muzaffar Fisol

BEIJING, Nov 6 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) and China’s Xinhua News Agency are exploring opportunities to strengthen cooperation in artificial intelligence (AI), particularly in newsroom applications, technology development and capacity building.

The matter was discussed during a bilateral luncheon between Bernama chairman Datuk Seri Wong Chun Wai and Xinhua editor-in-chief Lyu Yansong on the sidelines of the 7th World Media Summit here today.

The luncheon was also attended by Bernama editor-in-chief Arul Rajoo Durar Raj and senior Xinhua officials.

Wong proposed elevating bilateral relations between the two agencies into a dedicated and formal AI partnership encompassing joint training, the exchange of best practices and collaborative monitoring of global technological developments.

“It is crucial for organisational leadership to deeply understand AI, because leaders must set the direction and lead by example,” he said.

Wong also highlighted the urgency for newsroom leaders to take a hands-on approach to technological transformation, cautioning that legacy systems were rapidly becoming obsolete.

In response, Lyu reaffirmed that Bernama remained Xinhua’s premier partner in Malaysia and welcomed the initiative.

He also formally invited Bernama to send a dedicated technical and editorial delegation to Xinhua’s global headquarters in Beijing next year to examine its proprietary AI newsroom workflows, evaluate specialised applications and benchmark practical solutions.

Lyu stressed the importance of news organisations remaining pragmatic and financially disciplined in adopting generative AI technologies.

He said Xinhua’s strategy centred on adopting mature, open-source foundation models while leveraging its authoritative archive of news content.

“As news organisations, our financial resources are inherently finite. We cannot match the multi-billion-dollar investments made by dedicated technology giants in training foundational large language models,” he said.

Cooperation between Bernama and Xinhua began on Dec 14, 1985, with the signing of their first Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) on news exchange in Kuala Lumpur.

Since then, the partnership between the two news agencies has continued to evolve, facilitating balanced and fair coverage of international developments in Malaysia, China and around the world. 

-- BERNAMA