ToriAI Poised to Transform Newsrooms with AI Innovation
The New Thought Media Support Foundation (NTMSF) has announced the launch of ToriAI, an innovation designed to equip Nigerian newsrooms with Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools to enhance efficiency and boost profitability.
Specifically, the tool is designed to bridge digital capacity gap in the newsroom, with its adoption expected to improve editorial efficiency, boost engagement, and unlock new revenue streams.
The announcement of the tool came during the inaugural Innovation for Development Conference themed: ‘Unlocking Nigeria’s AI Potentials for Media Sustainability and Democracy’, alongside the launch of other media solutions, including Kohort, Connected Newsrooms, Falasa, and Citizens College.
In Lagos, the conference brought together media leaders, academics and technologists to explore emerging innovations, identify industry challenges and chart solutions in a series of panel sessions.
Delivering the keynote address, Chief Executive Officer of the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) and Publisher of Premium Times, Dapo Olorunyomi, described ToriAI as a culturally-aware technological breakthrough.
Represented by Monsur Hussain, he praised the tool’s ability to interpret local nuance.
He said, “ToriAI is a solution grounded in our culture which understands our proverbs, idioms and norms. The challenge before us is ensuring AI serves inclusion, truth and democracy not manipulation or exclusion.”
Also speaking, NTMSF Director, Seun Akinfolarin, said the tool was conceived to help journalists adopt cutting-edge digital tools and position media sector to lead social and economic transformation.
“ToriAI will support journalists to grow new audiences, deepen community engagement and translate content into Nigerian languages and audio formats. It allows a single story to be repurposed into multiple formats, including social media versions, helping newsrooms unlock new revenue streams.”
NTMSF Programmes Manager, Habib Oladapo, reiterated the potential of the tool to revolutionise news room operations. He said the tool is a strategic solution aiming to help small and mid-sized news organisations harness AI for content and audience growth.
The launch also included a live demo of the platform’s flagship ‘Tori Storycards’ which converts a single 400-word English-language news story into multiple formats, including translations into Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo, Pidgin, and select international languages, along with platform-specific social media versions.
Commenting further, Oladapo said, ” By enabling seamless multilingual and multiplatform content production, Tori Storycards is designed to help newsrooms grow new audiences, deepen community engagement, and diversify revenue, all while working from the same core story.
“This tool has the potential to transform the way local newsrooms work. By removing the technical barriers to multilingual publishing, we are giving journalists and editors the ability to reach communities that have long been underserved by mainstream media.”
Tori Storycards is the second initiative under the ToriAI umbrella, following the launch of NTMSF’s AI Fellowship programme, which focuses on building a new generation of Nigerian AI researchers and practitioners in media.
The platform was developed in partnership with Ogre.run, a United States-based AI research and product lab.
Habib explained that the launch of ToriAI reflects NTMSF’s broader mission to localise emerging technologies for democratic development and media sustainability in Nigeria.
“We intend to continue to develop tools and training programs that help newsrooms adapt to rapid technological changes while maintaining journalistic integrity and relevance,” he said.
