WAN-Ifra’s Open AI-supported Newsroom AI Catalyst programme is being expanded to include Australia and New Zealand.

So far, information is that two additional cohorts, open to 24 editorial teams, will add to the existing 128, “in the coming months”.

The accelerator programme aims to help news publishers fast-track their AI adoption and implementation.

“For news professionals, AI presents opportunities to reshape professional journalism across multiple dimensions, from advanced content discovery to creating new dynamic storytelling, breaking away from traditional fixed formats,” WAN-Ifra chief executive Vincent Peyrègne said. “It promises productivity gains in workflows that unleash the creative power of editorial teams.”

Peyrègne said the new cohorts and ANZ expansion marked an important milestone in the programme’s development, which has met with great success since its launch at the end of 2024.

A Prototype Development Fund supports participants’ projects with credits.

OpenAI chief of intellectual property and content Tom Rubin said participants left the programme with a tailored AI roadmap, “and we’re looking forward to seeing the new ways that journalists and publishers put AI tools to work in creative, impactful ways”.

News organisations that have already implemented AI can benefit from the Advanced Global Cohort Accelerator, which provides advanced tools, deep-dive sessions and peer-to-peer exchanges designed for expert practitioners. Twelve publishers will be invited to join the programme.

WAN-Ifra says applications for the first Catalyst cohort – including a three-month programme to support 12 newsrooms with capacity building and hands-on AI implementation – will open in June.

For more information, contact programme manager Rocio Valderrábano, rocio.valderrabano@wan-ifra.org For more details, visit wan-ifra.org/ai-accelerator

Pictured: WAN-Ifra president Ladina Heimgartner with Tom Rubin and Vincent Peyrègne