Sogou Inc. today jointly launched the first 3D AI News Anchor with Xinhua News Agency, a national news agency in China.

The 3D AI News Anchor features the latest generation of the Sogou AI Vocational Avatar technology, which employs 3D modeling and AI technologies to create true-to-life avatars of human beings.

The debut of the 3D AI News Anchor marks a milestone for the Sogou Vocational Avatar technology. Sogou achieved this breakthrough by bringing together 3D and AI, which enables the avatar to be more flexible and adaptive to different settings. Compared with previous generations of Sogou's AI News Anchors, the 3D AI News Anchor communicates visual and audio information more naturally and smoothly in real time and in a real-life setting. Not only can the 3D AI News Anchor walk around during a broadcast, it can also perform complex gestures.

Sogou applied algorithms and high-fidelity 3D technologies used in movie productions to create the 3D avatar of Zhao Wanwei, a real-life Xinhua reporter. Sogou's AI technologies, including multi-modal recognition and synthesis, facial recognition and animation, and transfer learning, allow the avatar to intelligently imitate human voices, facial expressions, lip movements, and mannerisms with only text inputs.

The 3D AI News Anchor will be reporting for Xinhua News Agency on the Two Sessions, China's largest annual legislative meetings, creating a new and dynamic viewing experience.

Leveraging its language-centric AI technologies, Sogou also developed the first Russian-speaking AI news presenter in 2019.