BEIJING, Nov. 11, 2026 /Xinhua-AsiaNet/ --
The world's first bionic humanoid robot news anchors were unveiled on Nov. 5 at a forum on artificial intelligence and Chinese modernization held in Beijing as part of the 7th World Media Summit.
The launch marked a step toward putting the innovative model of combining authoritative news content with embodied AI into practical use.
Named Xinyan and Xinyu, the robot anchors were jointly developed by Xinhua News Agency and UBTECH, a leading Chinese robotics company, with renowned Chinese director Zhang Yimou serving as the lead designer of their visual identities.
Built to human scale and customized for news applications, they can deliver on-site news broadcasts. Their capabilities are powered by Xinhua's AI-powered newsbot "Xinhua Yudian" and UBTECH's full-chain proprietary technologies, including biomimetic skin, embodied AI hardware, operating systems, emotion-driven large language models and mass production capabilities.
Zhang shared his thoughts on the integration of technology and art at the forum. He sought to strike a balance between the seriousness and professionalism required of news delivery and the natural, nuanced realism of lifelike robots.
Director-general of Xinhua's New Media Center Qian Tong said robot anchors are intended to take on new roles in the newsroom, not to become the stars of the show. They will assist journalists and editors with news presentation, multilingual content delivery and on-site interaction.
Zhou Jian, founder, chairman of the Board and CEO of UBTECH, said the robots, a cross-sector collaboration, combine Xinhua's news industry standards and content resources, UBTECH's full-stack technologies, and the visual design of Zhang and his team.
Powered by "Xinhua Yudian," the robot anchors have established an integrated "brain-expression-control" technical pipeline, enabling them to retrieve authoritative political news and information in real time from vetted sources, and helping reduce risks of misinformation caused by AI hallucinations. The product is planned for future application in more scenarios including educational bases, urban public venues, overseas cultural exchanges, and deep space exploration reporting.
The 7th World Media Summit is co-hosted by Xinhua News Agency and the People's Government of Beijing Municipality, and organized by Xinhua's Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Department, New Media Center and Xinhuanet. It aims to provide a platform for dialogue and cooperation among global media organizations and build consensus on the use of AI in communication.
