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Arab News launches translation services in 50 languages at FIPP Media congress in Madrid

Arab News launches translation services in 50 languages at FIPP Media congress in Madrid
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Arab News launches translation services in 50 languages at FIPP Media congress in Madrid
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Arab News launches translation services in 50 languages at FIPP Media congress in Madrid

Arab News launches translation services in 50 languages at FIPP Media congress in Madrid
  • Using artificial intelligence, 黑料社区鈥檚 first English daily is now accessible to 80 percent of the world鈥檚 population
  • Embracing innovation over apprehension, Arab News is harnessing AI to empower journalists and expand global reach

MADRID: Arab News, 黑料社区鈥檚 first English-language daily, has launched the beta version of an artificial intelligence-powered translation service that makes its news, views, and analysis available in 50 languages.

The announcement was made by Editor-in-Chief Faisal J. Abbas during a special event in Madrid, coinciding with the FIPP World Media Congress 2025 and marking the newspaper鈥檚 Golden Jubilee.

鈥淭hanks to modern-day technology, Arab News, which launched in 1975 to be a voice for 黑料社区 in English, will now be the voice of a changing region in 50 languages, reaching a remarkable 6.5 billion people, or 80 percent of the world population,鈥 Abbas told a side event on Wednesday evening.

Attendees included Princess Haifa bint Abdulaziz Al-Mogrin, the Saudi ambassador to Spain, Arab and Spanish diplomats, and senior editors and executives.

Abbas, who has overseen the newspaper鈥檚 digital transformation since 2016, told attendees the project reflects both Arab News鈥 longstanding role as 黑料社区鈥檚 voice in English and the publication鈥檚 commitment to telling the story of a region undergoing rapid change.

鈥淭he idea stems from the importance of telling our story, particularly in a region where events influence the whole world and where the beating heart, 黑料社区, is undergoing massive transformation and reforms under Vision 2030,鈥 he added.

The cutting-edge translation platform is powered by technology developed by CAMB.AI, a regional startup that has quickly become one of the Arab world鈥檚 most promising AI success stories on the global stage.

鈥淭he internet was created for English speakers and we decided to redesign it for the world,鈥 said Avneesh Prakash, CEO of CAMB.AI.

鈥淲e created CAMB.AI as the most comprehensive localization AI platform in the world, building on top of our foundational AI models.鈥

Prakash said the technology enables 鈥渓eading organizations across the world to localize their content 鈥 video, audio, text, documents, website 鈥 anything to help brands reach the global population beyond language barriers.

鈥淧artnering with Arab News to launch in 50 languages during its 50th anniversary year demonstrates our dedication to breaking down these barriers. Arab News stands for authentic content and now with CAMB.AI technology it can reach billions of people.鈥

The event also featured a screening of 鈥淩ewriting Arab News.鈥

The documentary chronicles the newspaper鈥檚 five-decade journey, from its founding in 1975 by the brothers Mohammad and Hisham Ali Hafez聽in Jeddah, to its ongoing digital transformation under the paper鈥檚 parent company, the Saudi Research and Media Group.

The film, which has been shortlisted for a prestigious 2025 AIB Art and Culture Video Award, highlights how Arab News evolved from a national print publication into a globally recognized digital media platform.

The event was hosted by Juan Senor, media analyst and president of Innovation Media Consulting Group, who underscored the 鈥渢hreats and opportunities鈥 AI presents to the media industry at this pivotal moment.

Senor said AI is a 鈥渉uge disruption to publishing, storytelling, (and) journalism,鈥 but where 鈥渟ome see a threat,鈥 Arab News sees 鈥渁n opportunity.鈥

Just as the publication adopted a digital-first approach, it is now embracing AI 鈥渞esponsibly, creatively, intelligently鈥 with the aim of empowering journalists, instead of replacing them, he added.

鈥淭he evolution of Arab News mirrors the transformation of the Kingdom of 黑料社区 itself. Two journeys side by side, both rooted in tradition, both driven by ambition, and both embracing change,鈥 Senor said.

Among the attendees were Cristina Juarraz, assistant director and programming coordinator at Casa Arabe; Pedro Gonzalez, journalist and co-founder of Euronews; Ivan Moreno de Cozar y Landahl, secretary-general at Alliance Francaise Madrid; Jaime Barrientos, war reporter and Middle East expert; and Jorge Hevia Sierra, former Spanish ambassador to 黑料社区.

The event also drew several Arab diplomats, including Raghad A. Alsaqqa, Jordan鈥檚 ambassador to Spain; Hani Shamatli, Lebanon鈥檚 ambassador to Spain; Walid Abuabdalla, Libya鈥檚 ambassador to Spain; and Husni Abdel Wahed, Palestine鈥檚 ambassador to Spain.

Other attendees included Mohammad Alshohomi, Kuwait鈥檚 charge d鈥檃ffaires ad interim in Spain; Ehab Ahmed Badawy, Egypt鈥檚 ambassador to Spain; Saleh Ahmad Salem Alzaraim Alsuwaidi, the UAE鈥檚 newly appointed ambassador; and Malek Twal, head of the Arab League鈥檚 office in Madrid.

The launch of the multilingual platform underscores Arab News鈥 continued expansion as a major international media outlet and pioneer in bridging cultures through journalism and innovation.

Since its founding, Arab News has built a reputation as the 鈥渧oice of a changing region,鈥 reflecting the Kingdom鈥檚 development, diplomacy, and modernization.

Abbas said the debut of the AI-powered service marks a milestone moment for the newspaper, merging technology and storytelling to share the region鈥檚 perspectives with global audiences.

鈥淭his year we鈥檙e turning 50. And we were adamant that our celebration will not be a farewell party but rather a rebirth,鈥 Abbas said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e proud to be embracing technology, not resisting it.鈥


OpenAI launches Atlas browser to compete with Google Chrome

OpenAI launches Atlas browser to compete with Google Chrome
Updated 23 October 2025

OpenAI launches Atlas browser to compete with Google Chrome

OpenAI launches Atlas browser to compete with Google Chrome
  • OpenAI has said ChatGPT already has more than 800 million users but many of them get it for free
  • OpenAI鈥檚 browser will face a daunting challenge against Chrome, which has amassed about 3 billion worldwide users

OpenAI introduced its own web browser, Atlas, on Tuesday, putting the ChatGPT maker in direct competition with Google as more Internet users rely on artificial intelligence to answer their questions.
Making its popular AI chatbot a gateway to online searches could allow OpenAI, the world鈥檚 most valuable startup, to pull in more Internet traffic and the revenue made from digital advertising. It could also further cut off the lifeblood of online publishers if ChatGPT so effectively feeds people summarized information that they stop exploring the Internet and clicking on traditional web links.
OpenAI has said ChatGPT already has more than 800 million users but many of them get it for free. The San Francisco-based company also sells paid subscriptions but is losing more money than it makes and has been looking for ways to turn a profit.
OpenAI said Atlas launches Tuesday on Apple laptops and will later come to Microsoft鈥檚 Windows, Apple鈥檚 iOS phone operating system and Google鈥檚 Android phone system.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman called it a 鈥渞are, once-a-decade opportunity to rethink what a browser can be about and how to use one.鈥
But analyst Paddy Harrington of market research group Forrester said it will be a big challenge 鈥渃ompeting with a giant who has ridiculous market share.鈥
OpenAI鈥檚 browser is coming out just a few months after one of its executives testified that the company would be interested in buying Google鈥檚 industry-leading Chrome browser if a federal judge had required it to be sold to prevent the abuses that resulted in Google鈥檚 ubiquitous search engine being declared an illegal monopoly.

 

But US District Judge Amit Mehta last month issued a decision that rejected the Chrome sale sought by the US Justice Department in the monopoly case, partly because he believed advances in the AI industry already are reshaping the competitive landscape.
OpenAI鈥檚 browser will face a daunting challenge against Chrome, which has amassed about 3 billion worldwide users and has been adding some AI features from Google鈥檚 Gemini technology.
Chrome鈥檚 immense success could provide a blueprint for OpenAI as it enters the browser market. When Google released Chrome in 2008, Microsoft鈥檚 Internet Explorer was so dominant that few observers believed a new browser could mount a formidable threat.
But Chrome quickly won over legions of admirers by loading webpages more quickly than Internet Explorer while offering other advantages that enabled it to upend the market. Microsoft ended up abandoning Explorer and introducing its Edge browser, which operates similarly to Chrome and holds a distant third place in market share behind Apple鈥檚 Safari.
Perplexity, another smaller AI startup, rolled out its own Comet browser earlier this year. It also expressed interest in buying Chrome and eventually submitted an unsolicited $34.5 billion offer for the browser that hit a dead end when Mehta decided against a Google breakup.
Altman said he expects a chatbot interface to replace a traditional browser鈥檚 URL bar as the center of how he hopes people will use the Internet in the future.
鈥淭abs were great, but we haven鈥檛 seen a lot of browser innovation since then,鈥 he said on a video presentation aired Tuesday.
A premium feature of the ChatGPT Atlas browser is an 鈥渁gent mode鈥 that accesses the laptop and effectively clicks around the Internet on the person鈥檚 behalf, armed with a users鈥 browser history and what they are seeking to learn and explaining its process as it searches.
鈥淚t鈥檚 using the Internet for you,鈥 Altman said.
Harrington, the Forrester analyst, says another way of thinking about that is it鈥檚 鈥渢aking personality away from you.鈥
鈥淵our profile will be personally attuned to you based on all the information sucked up about you. OK, scary,鈥 Harrington said. 鈥淏ut is it really you, really what you鈥檙e thinking, or what that engine decides it鈥檚 going to do? ... And will it add in preferred solutions based on ads?鈥
About 60 percent of Americans overall 鈥 and 74 percent of those under 30 鈥 use AI to find information at least some of the time, making online searches one of the most popular uses of AI technology, according to findings from an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll taken over the summer.
Google since last year has automatically provided AI-generated responses that attempt to answer a person鈥檚 search query, appearing at the top of results.
Reliance on AI chatbots to summarize information they collect online has raised a number of concerns, including the technology鈥檚 propensity to confidently spout false information, a problem known as hallucination.
The way that chatbots trained on online content spout new writings has been particularly troubling to the news industry, leading The New York Times and other outlets to sue OpenAI for copyright infringement and others, including The Associated Press, to sign licensing deals.
A study of four top AI assistants including ChatGPT and Google鈥檚 Gemini released Wednesday showed nearly half their responses were flawed and fell short of the standards of 鈥渉igh-quality鈥 journalism.
The research from the European Broadcasting Union, a group of public broadcasters in 56 countries, compiled the results of more than 3,000 responses to news-related questions to help ascertain quality responses and identify problems to fix.
 


Publicis Groupe Middle East and Snapchat launch intelligence hub Youth Studio

Publicis Groupe Middle East and Snapchat launch intelligence hub Youth Studio
Updated 21 October 2025

Publicis Groupe Middle East and Snapchat launch intelligence hub Youth Studio

Publicis Groupe Middle East and Snapchat launch intelligence hub Youth Studio
  • Initiative will provide marketers with real-time insights based on multiple data sources

DUBAI: Publicis Groupe Middle East, in partnership with Snapchat, on Tuesday launched Youth Studio, a hub designed to provide marketers with exclusive insights about young audiences, specifically Gen Z and Gen Alpha.

Jennifer Fischer, chief growth and innovation officer, Publicis Groupe Middle East and Turkiye, told Arab News: 鈥満诹仙缜 has the youngest population in the GCC and one of the fastest-moving economies in the region. That combination means brands and government entities can鈥檛 afford to rely on outdated assumptions or global reports that don鈥檛 account for the cultural nuances here.

鈥淵outh Studio is our answer to that, built for the depth and pace this region requires.鈥

Fischer described the studio as a 鈥渓iving ecosystem鈥 combining data, research and creativity rather than a 鈥減hysical space or a static platform.鈥

Youth Studio consists of four key dimensions: A specific methodology; insights based on real-time data; a community of more than 400 Gen Z professionals from Publicis Groupe, with a smaller group identified as 鈥渉eroes鈥 who help validate the work; and a modular toolkit.

The modular approach means that Youth Studio is not a 鈥渙ne-size-fits-all program,鈥 but rather a 鈥渟et of strategic modules, so brands can plug in where they need the most value,鈥 whether that is 鈥渦nderstanding culture, fine-tuning an idea or identifying the right partners and moments to activate,鈥 Fischer explained.

Each module is designed to help brands address specific challenges, she added.

For example, the 鈥淐ode Compass鈥 module helps brands understand how certain themes resonate with youth, such as what 鈥渉ome鈥 means for a furniture brand or 鈥渟uccess鈥 for a bank.

鈥淚dea Turner鈥 helps brands refine existing ideas or campaigns to make them more relevant to youth culture by identifying the right tone, language, partnerships and cultural entry points.

And 鈥淲hat鈥檚 Hot/What鈥檚 Not鈥 is a dedicated module built with Snapchat, focusing on how brands can translate cultural cues into Snapchat-specific campaign ideas.

Youth Studio is supported by Publicis Groupe鈥檚 鈥淵outh Uncliched Series,鈥 which is 鈥渘ot a single report but rather a living synthesis of all our ongoing data, research and cultural analysis,鈥 Fischer said.

It combines intelligence from various sources such as BEAT, the group鈥檚 proprietary research tool that gathers live weekly data; qualitative research and interviews, conducted with youth aged 9 to 27; digital and social intelligence tools that 鈥渢rack cultural trends, memes and behavioral shifts across the broader online ecosystem鈥; and Snapchat鈥檚 insights that provide a 鈥渂ehavioral and creative layer,鈥 she added.

Snapchat reaches in excess of 75 million daily active users in the GCC, including more than 90 percent of 13-34-year-olds in 黑料社区 and one in three in the UAE, according to a statement.

The platform 鈥渉as become the pulse of Saudi creativity, where global trends are remixed with local identity,鈥 and 鈥渂y pairing that cultural heartbeat with Publicis Groupe鈥檚 regional scale, we鈥檙e turning these insights into strategies that brands can build on,鈥 Rasha El-Ghoussaini, head of Agency at Snap Inc. MENA, told Arab News.

Youth Studio will be accessible to all Publicis Groupe Middle East clients across agencies. Fischer said that the network is open 鈥渢o engaging with brands who are keen on connecting with the youth, but our priority is to bring added value to Publicis Groupe clients first.鈥

FASTFACT

YOUTH IN THE MIDDLE EAST

- Only 15 percent feel represented in adverts

- 52 percent value a balance between religious teachings and modern life

- 85 percent of Gen Alpha look up to their parents vs 49 percent to friends or siblings and 21 percent to media influencers

- 60 percent believe they learn fastest with AI

- 43 percent believe AI has given them new possibilities they had not imagined


India鈥檚 iconic Parsi magazine closes after 6 decades

India鈥檚 iconic Parsi magazine closes after 6 decades
Updated 20 October 2025

India鈥檚 iconic Parsi magazine closes after 6 decades

India鈥檚 iconic Parsi magazine closes after 6 decades
  • Parsiana started in Mumbai in 1964 to chronicle the Parsi community
  • The fortnightly magazine鈥檚 final issue will be published on Oct. 21

NEW DELHI: One of India鈥檚 oldest and most prominent Parsi magazines, Parsiana, will publish its final issue this week, closing after a six-decade run of chronicling the country鈥檚 declining Zoroastrian minority population.

Founded in 1964 by Pestonji Warden, a Parsi doctor and entrepreneur, Parsiana was for the first nine years focused largely on religious, historic, and academic subjects.

The focus changed to current affairs in 1973, when it was bought by Jehangir Patel, who, a few years earlier, returned to India after graduating from Yale University.

Having worked for the San Francisco Examiner and the Hartford Times in the US, and upon return, the Mumbai-based Freedom First magazine, Patel took on board professional journalists to cover contemporary issues concerning the Parsis both in India and abroad.

But over 60 years after its founding, the magazine鈥檚 readership has been shrinking along with the community, which has declined sharply over the past decades, leaving the editorial board without successors to continue running it.

Parsiana鈥檚 current team has 15 members. Most of them have been working at the publication for 40 years and are in their 60s.

鈥淥ne lady is almost 80, and I鈥檓 also 80, so it didn鈥檛 seem possible for us to continue,鈥 Patel said.

鈥淭o find new people to come and work with us, or even non-Parsis, is very difficult, and generally in journalism, people are looking to other professions.鈥

 

The Parsis are a small community of Zoroastrians in the Indian subcontinent, who originally came from Persia. Some of its prominent representatives include the Tata family 鈥 India鈥檚 key industrialist 鈥 as well as the conductor Zubin Mehta and Freddie Mercury, the late lead singer of Queen.

Most of the community鈥檚 members live in Mumbai, but there is also a diaspora in India鈥檚 south, in Bengaluru, and in Karachi, Pakistan. A few thousand Parsis also live in the US, UK and Canada.

Over the last century, the number of Parsis has fallen by half due to late marriages and low birth rates.

鈥淲e鈥檙e dwindling. According to the 2011 census, 57,000 Parsis were in India. Now, the figure must be less than 40,000,鈥 Patel said.

鈥淚t鈥檚 very hard to increase the population. No government in the world has succeeded in reversing a declining population trend. People don鈥檛 want to get married. If people get married late, and maybe have one child or don鈥檛 have children, our replacement ratio is probably less than 1 percent 鈥 It鈥檚 an aging community.鈥

Parsiana鈥檚 final issue will be published on Oct. 21, with a story featuring clocks in Zoroastrian fire temples. Some of those tower timepieces at the 50 remaining temples in Mumbai do not even function anymore.

鈥淲e鈥檝e written about clocks in the fire temples, how they are maintained, how they are looked after 鈥 To find parts for them is not easy. So, a lot of these clocks are just not working,鈥 Patel said.

鈥淎 lot of these clocks are just not working, or are just lying over there, only to get one person who maybe comes to wind them up. But even that person is too old now to come around 鈥 At our fire temples, there are hardly any visitors, hardly any devotees.鈥

When Parsiana announced its closure in one of its editorials in August, a reader commented that its closure would leave a void.

鈥淵our professionalism, courage, and passion have not only elevated the standards of community journalism but have also given a voice to countless Zoroastrian stories,鈥 they wrote in a letter to the editor. 鈥淧arsiana has been our pride and our companion 鈥 its absence will be deeply felt.鈥


US court bars Israel鈥檚 NSO Group from installing spyware on WhatsApp

US court bars Israel鈥檚 NSO Group from installing spyware on WhatsApp
Updated 18 October 2025

US court bars Israel鈥檚 NSO Group from installing spyware on WhatsApp

US court bars Israel鈥檚 NSO Group from installing spyware on WhatsApp
  • Evidence at trial showed that NSO Group reverse-engineered WhatsApp code to stealthily install spyware targeting users
  • NSO Group produces Pegasus, a highly invasive tool that can聽switch on a target鈥檚 cell phone camera and microphone and access data on it

SAN FRANCISCO: A US judge on Friday granted an injunction barring Israeli spyware maker NSO Group from targeting WhatsApp users but slashed a $168 million damages award at trial to just $4 million.
District Judge Phyllis Hamilton ruled that NSO Group鈥檚 behavior fell short of a 鈥減articularly egregious鈥 standard needed to support the jury鈥檚 calculations on a financial penalty.
But in the ruling, seen by AFP, she said the court 鈥渃oncluded that defendants鈥 conduct causes irreparable harm, and there being no dispute that the conduct is ongoing鈥 the judge granted WhatsApp owner Meta an injunction to stop NSO Group鈥檚 snooping tactics at the messaging service.
Evidence at trial showed that NSO Group reverse-engineered WhatsApp code to stealthily install spyware targeting users, according to the ruling, which called such access to user data 鈥渦nlawful.鈥
The spyware was repeatedly redesigned to escape detection and bypass security fixes at WhatsApp, the court concluded.
The lawsuit, filed in late 2019, accused NSO Group of cyberespionage targeting journalists, lawyers, human rights activists and others using the encrypted messaging service.
Hamilton ruled however that the $168 million damages verdict awarded to Meta earlier this year was excessive.
鈥淭here have simply not yet been enough cases involving unlawful electronic surveillance in the smartphone era for the court to be able to conclude that defendants鈥 conduct was 鈥榩articularly egregious鈥,鈥 Hamilton wrote in the ruling which was seen by AFP.
鈥淎s time goes on, more of a shared societal consensus may emerge about the acceptability of defendants鈥 conduct.鈥
Founded in 2010 by Israelis Shalev Hulio and Omri Lavie, NSO Group is based in the seaside high-tech hub of Herzliya, near Tel Aviv.
Media website TechCrunch reported Friday that a US investment group has acquired controlling interest in NSO Group.
The Israeli firm produces Pegasus, a highly invasive tool that can reportedly switch on a target鈥檚 cell phone camera and microphone and access data on it, effectively turning the phone into a pocket spy.
The suit filed in a California federal court contended that NSO tried to infect approximately 1,400 鈥渢arget devices鈥 with malicious software to steal valuable information.
Infecting smartphones or other gadgets being used for WhatsApp messages meant the content of messages encrypted during transmission could be accessed after they were unscrambled.
The complaint said the attackers 鈥渄eveloped a program to enable them to emulate legitimate WhatsApp network traffic in order to transmit malicious code鈥 to take over the devices.
The software has been pinpointed by independent experts as being used by nation states, some of them with poor human rights records.
NSO Group has maintained it only licenses its software to governments for fighting crime and terrorism.
 


White House joins Bluesky and immediately trolls Trump opponents

White House joins Bluesky and immediately trolls Trump opponents
Updated 18 October 2025

White House joins Bluesky and immediately trolls Trump opponents

White House joins Bluesky and immediately trolls Trump opponents
  • Bluesky is聽the social media platform of choice of many in the left-leaning online world
  • Disgruntled X users began flocking to Bluesky after billionaire Elon Musk took over Twitter (now known as X) in 2022

WASHINGTON: The White House on Friday joined Bluesky, the social media platform of choice of many in the left-leaning online world.
In its inaugural post, the White House account offered a sizzle reel of the administration鈥檚 memes, trolls and messages from President Donald Trump鈥檚 nine months since returning to office. The post appeared aimed at tweaking liberals who aren鈥檛 fans of the Republican president.
The first post included mentions of the administration鈥檚 executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico, a doctored image of Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries adorned in a sombrero with a faux mustache, and stream of photos and video from other big moments in the early going of Trump鈥檚 second term.
鈥淲hat鈥檚 up, Bluesky?鈥 the White House said in a message accompanying the video. 鈥漌e thought you might鈥檝e missed some of our greatest hits, so we put this together for you. Can鈥檛 wait to spend more quality time together!鈥
Disgruntled X users began flocking to Bluesky after billionaire Elon Musk took over Twitter (now known as X) in 2022, and the platform reported a surge in new users late last year.
It remains small compared to more established online spaces such as X, but it has emerged as an alternative for those looking for a different mood.
The Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Homeland Security also launched Bluesky accounts Friday.
Vice President JD Vance joined Bluesky in June.
Trump鈥檚 social media platform of choice is Truth Social. Trump is the biggest shareholder in Trump Media & Technology Group, the company that owns Truth Social.