Google launches chatbot Bard in Arabic/node/2337151/media
Google launches chatbot Bard in Arabic
Along with Arabic and English, Google has developed Bard to serve users in more than 40 languages such as Mandarin, German, Hindi, and Spanish. (AFP/File)
The ChatGPT-like AI chatbot will allow Arabic users to expand their creativity, learning, and productivity, Google MENA director said
Updated 13 July 2023
Haifa Alshammari and Zaira Lakhpatwala
RIYADH and DUBAI: Google launched its latest generative artificial intelligence experiment, Bard in Arabic, on Thursday, having initially introduced it in English in May this year, to allow Arabic-speaking people to utilize their creative capabilities and increase productivity.
Google is intentionally calling Bard an “AI experiment” — not a chatbot — allowing the company to explore a “new paradigm in computing,” said Najeeb Jarrar, regional director of marketing at Google MENA.
“We’re learning together how large language models can be helpful and how to minimize poor experiences,” he told Arab News.
The Arabic language consists of several dialects, making it a challenge for AI models. Bard, however, is based on Google’s most recent language model, PaLM2, which can understand information in multiple languages.
It is designed to recognize questions in over 16 Arabic dialects, including Egyptian Spoken Arabic and Saudi Arabian Spoken Arabic, and can reply to questions in Modern Standard Arabic, Jarrar said.
It also understands input even if it contains mixed languages such as inserting sentences in Arabic with other languages, along with a user interface that supports right-to-left writing.
“I have been using Bard since its release in the Middle East, in the English language. My use for it was to summarize some videos and reports,” said Osamah Essam Eddin, a technical content creator.
He explained how he used both Bard and ChatGPT and compared the two. “I use Bard more for search or (to) lookup updates about a piece of information. It is excellent for anything related to searching such as searching for a specific brand, specific feature, and such,” he said.
Currently, Bard is only available for personal use. When asked about how businesses can use Bard, Jarrar said: “As we launch Bard in new languages including Arabic, our focus will primarily focus on users’ experience and how they can benefit more from Bard.”
There is also no news regarding advertising and revenue models for Bard.
It is primarily designed to boost productivity through features like exporting Python code to Replit; sharing Bard chats with friends; and image search.
Google has already integrated products like Lens, Gmail, Docs and Collab into Bard with plans for “further integration,” Jarrar said.
“We are used to thinking of computing (as) narrowing the world’s existing information, and now it’s about applying the information and expanding it into new ways of creation and creativity,” said Jack Krawczyk, senior product director at Google and one of the leads at Bard, during a roundtable earlier this week.
Addressing privacy and misinformation concerns associated with AI, particularly generative AI chatbots, he said that Google is taking a “bold and responsible approach,” which means engaging with privacy regulators before launching.
Image search, for example, is currently only available in English because Google wants to “understand how this new form of creativity operates in a single language” so that it can build systems that essentially “maximize helpfulness and minimize harm” in other languages, Krawczyk said.
“A lot of people talk about the race that’s happening right now in AI and we believe there’s only one race — the race to get it right. And in that race to get it right, we’re taking this responsible approach,” he added.
Arabic was among over 40 languages Bard was launched in and rolled out across Europe on Thursday.
A look back at how Arab News marked its 50th anniversary
In a year crowded with news, the paper still managed to innovate and leverage AI to become available in 50 languages
Golden Jubilee Gala, held at the Diplomatic Quarter in Riyadh, now available to watch on YouTube
Updated 31 December 2025
Arab News
RIYADH: In 2025, the global news agenda was crowded with headlines concerning wars, elections and rapid technological change.
Inside the newsroom of Arab News, the year carried additional weight: Saudi Arabia’s first English-language daily marked its 50th anniversary.
And with an industry going through turmoil worldwide, the challenge inside the newsroom was how to turn a midlife crisis into a midlife opportunity.
For the newspaper’s team members, the milestone was less about nostalgia than about ensuring the publication could thrive in a rapidly changing and evolving media landscape.
“We did not want just to celebrate our past,” said Faisal J. Abbas, editor-in-chief of Arab News. “But more importantly, we were constantly thinking of how we can keep Arab News relevant for the next five decades.”
Faisal J. Abbas, editor-in-chief of Arab News. (Supplied)
The solution, he added, came down to two words: “Artificial intelligence.”
For the Arab News newsroom, AI was not a replacement for journalism but as a tool to extend it.
“It was like having three eyes at once: one on the past, one on the present, and one on the future,” said Noor Nugali, the newspaper’s deputy editor-in-chief.
Noor Nugali, deputy editor-in-chief of Arab News. (Supplied)
One of the first initiatives was the 50th anniversary commemorative edition, designed as a compact historical record of the region told through Arab News’ own reporting.
“It was meant to be like a mini history book, telling the history of the region using Arab News’ archive with a story from each year,” said Siraj Wahab, acting executive editor of the newspaper.
The issue, he added, traced events ranging from the outbreak of the Lebanese civil war in 1975 to the swearing-in of Donald Trump, while also paying homage to former editors-in-chief who shaped the newspaper’s direction over five decades.
The anniversary edition, however, was only one part of a broader strategy to signal Arab News’ focus on the future.
To that end, the paper partnered with Google to launch the region’s first AI-produced podcast using NotebookLM, an experimental tool that synthesizes reporting and archival material into audio storytelling.
The project marked a regional first in newsroom-led AI audio production.
The podcast was unveiled during a special 50th anniversary ceremony in mid-November, held on the sidelines of the Arab Media Forum, hosted by the Dubai Future Foundation. The event in the UAE’s commercial hub drew regional media leaders and officials.
Remarks at the event highlighted the project as an example of innovation in legacy media, positioning Arab News as a case study in digital reinvention rather than preservation alone.
“This is a great initiative, and I’m happy that it came from Arab News as a leading media platform, and I hope to see more such initiatives in the Arab world especially,” said Mona Al-Marri, director-general of the Government of Dubai Media Office, on the sidelines of the event.
“AI is the future, and no one should deny this. It will take over so many sectors. We have to be ready for it and be part of it and be ahead of anyone else in this interesting field.”
Behind the scenes, another long-form project was taking shape: a documentary chronicling Arab News’ origins and its transformation into a global, digital-first newsroom.
“While all this was happening, we were also working in-house on a documentary telling the origin story of Arab News and how it transformed under the current editor into a more global, more digital operation,” said Nugali.
The result was “Rewriting Arab News,” a documentary examining the paper’s digital transformation and its navigation of Saudi Arabia’s reforms between 2016 and 2018. The film charted editorial shifts, newsroom restructuring and the challenges of reporting during a period of rapid national change.
The documentary was screened at the Frontline Club in London, the European Union Embassy, Westminster University, and the World Media Congress in Bahrain. It later became available on the streaming platform Shahid and onboard Saudi Arabian Airlines.
The grand slam of the anniversary year was the Golden Jubilee of Arab News gala, held in late September in Riyadh’s Diplomatic Quarter. (AN photo)
It was also nominated for an Association for International Broadcasting award.
In early July, a special screening of the documentary took place at the EU Embassy in Riyadh. During the event, EU Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Christophe Farnaud described the film as an “embodiment” of the “incredible changes” that the Kingdom is undergoing.
“I particularly appreciate … the historical dimension, when (Arab News) was created in 1975 — that was also a project corresponding to the new role of the Kingdom,” Farnaud said. “Now the Kingdom has entered a new phase, a spectacular phase of transformation.”
Part of the documentary is narrated by Prince Turki Al-Faisal, the former Saudi ambassador to the US, who in the film delves into the paper’s origins.
Prince Turki Al-Faisal, the former Saudi ambassador to the US. (AN photo)
The grand slam of the anniversary year was the Golden Jubilee of Arab News gala, held in late September in Riyadh’s Diplomatic Quarter.
Hosted by the Dean of Diplomatic Corps in Saudi Arabia and Ambassador of Djibouti to Riyadh Dya-Eddine Said Bamakhrama, the evening featured a keynote address by Prince Turki, who spoke about Arab News’ founding under his father, the late King Faisal, and its original mission to present the Kingdom to the English-speaking world.
The Dean of Diplomatic Corps in Saudi Arabia and Ambassador of Djibouti to Riyadh Dya-Eddine Said Bamakhrama (far left). (AN photo)
Arab News was established in Jeddah in 1975 by brothers Hisham and Mohammed Ali Hafiz under the slogan to give Arabs a voice in English while documenting the major transformations taking place across the Middle East.
The two founders were honored with a special trophy presented by Prince Turki, Assistant Media Minister Abdullah Maghlouth, Editor-in-Chief Abbas, and family member and renowned columnist Talat Hafiz on behalf of the founders.
During the gala, Abbas announced Arab News’ most ambitious expansion yet: the launch of the publication in 50 languages, unveiled later at the World Media Congress in Madrid in cooperation with Camb.AI.
The grand slam of the anniversary year was the Golden Jubilee of Arab News gala, held in late September in Riyadh’s Diplomatic Quarter. (AN photo)
The Madrid launch in October underscored Arab News’ aim to reposition itself not simply as a regional paper, but as a global platform for Saudi and Middle Eastern perspectives.
The event was attended by Princess Haifa bint Abdulaziz Al-Mogrin, the Saudi ambassador to Spain; Arab and Spanish diplomats; and senior editors and executives.
As the anniversary year concluded, Arab News released the full video of the Golden Jubilee Gala to the public for the first time, making the event accessible beyond the room in which it was held.
For a newspaper founded in an era of typewriters and wire copy, the message of its 50th year was clear: longevity alone is not enough. Relevance, the newsroom concluded, now depends on how well journalism adapts without losing sight of its past.
