Curio Develops AI News App With Funding

Curio’s news app, “Rio” uses AI to curate news from trusted sources, offering personalized briefings and combating echo chambers.

As publications including Newsweek, Sports Illustrated, Gizmodo, VentureBeat, and CNET have experimented with articles composed by AI, the news industry may be witnessing its gradual integration. However, even though most reputable journalists would denounce this application, several entrepreneurs believe AI can improve the news experience — at least from the consumer’s perspective. Rio, the most recent entrant, is an “AI news anchor” whose purpose is to connect readers with the stories and subjects of most significant interest via reliable sources. 

The new application, developed by the same group that introduced Curio, an audio journalism startup propelled by artificial intelligence, was initially introduced at the South by Southwest Festival in Austin last month. Funding has been secured from Khosla Ventures and Chris Anderson, the founder of TED, who previously provided support to Curio. (As the round has yet to conclude, the startup cannot disclose the amount.)

Curio, established in 2016 by former BBC strategist Govind Balakrishnan and London lawyer Srikant Chakravarti, intends to broaden the application of its AI technology through the Rio initiative. 

Rio, initially conceived as an element within Curio’s application, conducts a headline survey of reputable newspapers and periodicals (e.g., Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, The Washington Post) before curating the resulting material into a daily news briefing that can be listened to or read.

Furthermore, according to the team, Rio will prevent users from becoming trapped in an echo chamber by promoting news that broadens their perspectives on subjects and motivates them to delve more deeply.

Rio developed a daily briefing during testing, which was displayed like a story interface with graphics and links to news articles that could be accessed via a tap at the bottom of the screen. An artificial intelligence voice narrated these articles. (To clarify, these were complete articles and not AI summaries.) Progressing through the headlines is analogous to navigating through a Story on a social media platform like Instagram. 

Curio asserts that Rio’s AI technology will only reference content from trusted publisher partners and not fabricate information. Without “explicit consent,” Rio will not use publisher content to train an LLM (large language model), the statement continues.

You can also engage with Rio via an AI chatbot interface, where you can inquire about additional topics of interest in addition to the briefing. Proposed subjects, such as “TikTok ban” or “Ukraine War,” are displayed in the form of diminutive tablets positioned above the text input field. Although the AI occasionally exhibited a slight delay in response time, it otherwise executed as anticipated. 

Furthermore, Rio would be pleased to produce an audio episode responding to your inquiries should you be interested in acquiring further knowledge.

According to co-founder Balakrishnan, since its debut as a feature in Curio last May, more than 20,000 queries have been posed to Rio by Curio users; this prompted the company to spin off the technology into its own app. 

“Everyone is uncertain as to what is true and what is false in the age of AI. “While it is possible to scan AI sites for instantaneous responses, blindly relying on them is a bit of a risk,” Chakravarti said in conjunction with Rio’s SXSW debut. “Obtaining reliable knowledge is difficult. Limited individuals are granted access to fact-checked and verified information. Rio provides news analysis, transforming commonplace headlines from reliable sources into informative content. “Instead of feeling depressed, checking the news with Rio makes you feel fulfilled.” 

It is challenging to determine whether Rio’s interface is compelling enough to warrant purchasing its standalone product. Still, a similar interface could eventually be implemented on the websites of significant news aggregators (e.g., Google News or Apple News) or even individual publishers. Concurrently, Curio will persist in its efforts to disseminate audio news. 

Curio is not the only startup attempting to improve the news reading experience through AI. With the support of $4.4 million, former Twitter engineers are developing Particle, an AI-driven news reader. Bulletin, another AI-driven news application, was introduced to combat sensationalism and provide news summaries. Artifact had also utilized AI before its sale to Yahoo, the parent company of TechCrunch. 

At this time, Rio is only accessible to those who have received an invitation for early access. You may also enroll in the app’s waiting list at rionews.ai. According to the organization, its public debut is scheduled for later this summer. (In exchange for your continued perusing, five of you may utilize my personal invitation link to gain entry.)