Xinhua Seeks Closer AI Ties With Indonesia’s Antara News Agency
Antara director Abdul Hakim met Xinhua president Fu Hua in Beijing ahead of the 7th World Media Summit and said he wants to learn how Xinhua uses artificial intelligence in its newsroom. He showed interest in Xinhua Yudian, an AI tool launched in June 2026.
China's Xinhua seeks closer AI ties with Indonesia's state news agency Antara, after Antara director Abdul Hakim met Xinhua president Fu Hua at Xinhua's Beijing headquarters ahead of the 7th World Media Summit.
Hakim said Antara wants to learn how Xinhua uses artificial intelligence in its news operations, particularly to speed up reporting and extend its international reach. He expressed interest in Xinhua Yudian, an AI-powered tool launched in June 2026. It is designed to answer questions about political news and trace information back to its sources.
Hakim was the first guest Fu met, and Xinhua welcomed Antara's active role in the summit.
A partnership dating to 1957
Fu said the two state-run agencies first connected in 1957, after the two countries established diplomatic ties in 1950. Next year will mark more than 70 years of cooperation, he said.
Fu said Xinhua strongly supports working with Antara and that both leaders have agreed to deepen ties. He said the media should keep telling the story of the relationship.
Hakim recalled three Xinhua journalists who died in a 1955 plane incident after the Bandung Asian-African Conference. A photographer survived by traveling by ship.
The agencies are far from equal in size. Xinhua has about 12,000 staff and more than 20 offices abroad, and it produces around 13,000 news items a day.
The summit
The World Media Summit in Beijing brought together about 500 delegates from 330 media outlets, research institutions and government organizations. They represented 112 countries and regions.
The theme was "Media in the Age of Intelligence: From Consensus to Action." Sessions covered AI in journalism, international media cooperation, global communication standards and coverage of China's modernization.
Concerns about Beijing's media influence
The AI talks build on earlier deals. Antara signed its first agreement with Xinhua in 2015, focused on fake news. A Freedom House report rated Indonesia as vulnerable to Beijing's media influence, citing 2019 deals involving Antara, Metro TV, Xinhua and CGTN, China's state television.
Analysts who have tracked the relationship argued in 2024 that such partnerships reached relatively few Indonesians, since over 70 percent get their news from social media. They say software is different because it operates inside the newsroom before readers see the work. In December 2025, they also warned about a Maritime Silk Road media platform launched in Guangzhou with outlets from 11 countries, including Indonesia.
Hakim's conditions
Hakim spoke first at the summit's Forum on Powering Intelligent Media. He told delegates that AI can help journalists but cannot replace human judgment and editorial responsibility.
Technology must not weaken accuracy, verification, fairness or integrity, he said. Smart tools require energy and computing power, so they must be affordable for developing countries.
He welcomed closer ties between agencies in three areas: sharing trusted information and fact-checking methods, exchanging knowledge on responsible AI, and cooperating on global issues such as energy security, climate change, peace and sustainable development.
