AI-powered search on AP Newsroom
June 1, 2023
The Associated Press (AP) has announced the launch of an artificial intelligence-powered search experience on AP Newsroom, the news agency’s single platform for multimedia content.
The platform also now offers e-commerce capabilities, in addition to serving AP’s member news organisations and customers.
AI-powered search makes it easier for users to find photos and videos that meet their search criteria. Rather than a traditional metadata search, the tool understands descriptive language and produces search results based on the description a user provides. AI-powered search for video is capable of finding individual moments within an entire video clip, regardless of length.
The search is powered by an engine called NOMAD from MerlinOne, a software company with expertise in AI applications for visual objects.
“This is a real sea change in finding content within our ever-expanding archives,” said Paul Caluori, AP vice president of global products. “Suddenly we have the ability to find very specific things within images or videos – even if they have never been tagged or captioned. The addition of AI-powered search unlocks AP’s unmatched visual archive, and new e-commerce capabilities make AP Newsroom a seamless experience for non-subscription customers.”
With self-serve licensing and pricing models, users can seamlessly license images and video, including for ad hoc usage. AP Newsroom, which replaces the AP Images and AP Archive platforms, also offers organisational boards to save visual content for later use. The AI-powered search feature is now available for non-subscription customers and will be available to traditional customers later this month.