The EBU’s Alexis Allemann, Sebastien Noir and HEIG-VD-professor Andrei Popescu-Belis have been awarded the prestigious Best Technical Paper at IBC2025 for their work on developing a groundbreaking AI-powered chatbot designed to deliver trusted news content.
Their paper “EBU NEO – A sophisticated multilingual chatbot for a trusted news ecosystem exploration” was recognized for its technical depth, the innovative methodology it describes, and significance to both the media industry and the wider public.
NEO was developed in close collaboration with EBU Members, especially Swedish Radio, in order to respond to growing concerns about the quality, bias and transparency of commercial AI-powered news assistants.
To address these issues, the team focused on optimising a Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) approach that enhances large language models by grounding them in reliable, curated sources. It leverages the EBU Digital News Hub’s extensive database of verified content, which also feeds connected services such as “A European Perspective”, and the PEACH AI framework, the EBU’s platform for personalization and recommendation services.
The result is a multilingual chatbot supported by a deep database of articles, with around 3,000 new stories added daily. This resource allows both professional journalists and the public to explore current affairs with greater confidence in editorial standards and transparency.
Together, these foundations ensure that the chatbot remains rooted in the editorial integrity and trust that underpin public service media.
Paul Entwistle, Chair of the IBC Technical Papers Committee and Peer Review Panel, praised the work, stating:
“The paper was very well written, providing an excellent technical disclosure, innovative improvements, detailed performance comparisons and a case study with important lessons on deploying a public-facing AI. The topic itself, trusted news in the age of AI, is critically important, with the EBU uniquely positioned to develop such a system. The paper highlights the scale and complexity of the task, the impressive capabilities that AI can bring, as well as reminding us of its current limitations. This is excellent work – and significant beyond our own industry.”
The award underscores the unique role of the EBU and its Members in shaping the future of trustworthy journalism in an AI-driven world. With its combination of editorial rigour and cutting-edge technology, NEO shows how artificial intelligence can strengthen – rather than undermine – the values of accuracy, impartiality and transparency that are central to public service media.
Visitors at the IBC 2025 Conference in Amsterdam can attend the formal presentation of the paper on Saturday 13 September at 13:30 CEST.