Alibaba Group Holding’s cloud computing division is bringing changes to the way Olympic content is transmitted and consumed, marking a significant milestone in the history of sports broadcasting.
On July 25, Alibaba Cloud, in partnership with Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS), unveiled OBS Cloud 3.0, an innovative AI-enhanced platform to serve as the primary content distribution method for the Paris Games. It’s a revolutionary change that marks the end of a piece of history: satellite broadcasting has been a staple of the Olympic Games since the technology was first launched at the 1964 Tokyo Games.
According to South China Morning PostOBS Cloud 3.0 will provide media with unique access to Olympic images and videos. OBS, the official broadcasting arm of the Olympic Games operated by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), is responsible for coordinating the distribution of news coverage, ensuring that billions of people around the world can watch all the action.
This move to cloud distribution is a historic first for the Olympic Games. Unsurprisingly, Alibaba highlighted that “for the first time in the history of the Olympic Games”, the cloud platform will serve as the primary access to content distribution. The novelty of this phase is underscored by its timing, which effectively aligns with the rise of global artificial intelligence, spearheaded by ChatGPT OpenAI from October 2022.
The use of AI technologies for Olympic broadcasts will be more than just a new method of distribution. Alibaba, for example, plans to use its own large language models to assist official commentators during games. AI-based support should help improve the quality of commentary to make it more understandable and in-depth for viewers.
Alibaba is not alone in bringing AI innovation to the Paris Olympics. Other tech giants and startups are also contributing their expertise:
- Chinese AI startup SenseTime will help the Chinese men’s national basketball team in the tournament. The company will offer AI data analysis and strategic consulting. The basketball team gets information much faster and hopes to create a competitive advantage.
- Intel and the International Olympic Committee have created an AI chatbot that answers professional, logistical and general questions from athletes living in the Olympic Village in Paris. The chatbot, AthleteGPT, will improve the athlete experience by providing the necessary information quickly and accurately.
- To highlight its AI products and technologies, Google has partnered with NBCUniversal, one of the major gaming operators. The use of Google technology will provide the audience with 3D maps of Olympic sports venues and an advanced information retrieval system that will allow viewers to access more information about any particular sport.
One of the coolest things about working on the broadcast cloud is delivering the first ever Olympic content in ultra-high definition. Not only will the image quality be unmatched, but the footage will also be more vivid and visually pleasing. This will make people feel that the athletes are extremely close to them.
Alibaba Cloud Intelligence International Business President Selina Yuan expressed great optimism about the joint venture with OBS. She noted that this would not only change the experience of watching the games, but also illustrate how advanced technology can be relevant to a global population.
The choice of artificial intelligence and cloud technology for the Paris Olympics follows a general trend in the sports industry, as the digital revolution affects how events are broadcast, analyzed and experienced, amid an ever-increasing interest in sports. With the rapid development of artificial intelligence, it’s entirely possible that in a decade the Olympics will be using more advanced versions of the technology that innovate training, player performance analysis, club-fan interaction and more.
(Image by David)
See also: Alibaba Cloud to close Australian and Indian data centers, contradicting earlier claims
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