Google has announced the launch of the Google News Initiative AI Skills Academy, in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) and its Department of New Media.
The 10-week hybrid training series is designed to build foundational AI knowledge while offering hands-on exposure to Google’s suite of AI tools including NotebookLM, Gemini, AI Studio, and Pinpoint aimed at streamlining newsroom workflows, increasing efficiency, and enabling more immersive and diverse storytelling.
The program will be delivered in partnership with data intelligence firm How India Lives, and will include weekly deep dives, practical exercises, dedicated mentoring, and problem-solving sessions. Participants will explore use-cases like transcribing interviews and videos, extracting insights from diverse file formats, analyzing large datasets, and tailoring content for audiences across languages and formats.
“Our early engagements with small, medium and large newsrooms have shown us the powerful impact that Pinpoint, NotebookLM and Gemini can have in transcription, translation and presentations, including using and deploying code. We are excited to partner with IIMC to make our lessons evermore relevant to the widest possible cohort of users, both within newsrooms and among students and academics,” said Durga Raghunath, Head of News Partnerships at Google India.
The academy also focuses on training media educators and students across IIMC’s six campuses, building a pipeline of AI-literate future journalists.
“This collaboration is a major step towards empowering media professionals and media educators with essential AI skills. As AI transforms journalism, this initiative will help them stay ahead. We intend to promote responsible innovation and enhance creativity in storytelling. IIMC is happy to be part of this initiative that will also help train students across our six campuses,” said Nimish Rustagi, Registrar at IIMC.
Prof. Anubhuti Yadav, Head of the Department of New Media at IIMC, added, “By setting up the AI Skills Academy with Google, IIMC is preparing journalism and communication students to thrive in an AI-powered media ecosystem. This initiative will enable them to harness cutting-edge tools for data journalism and content creation, fostering innovation with integrity.”