PRESS RELEASE FROM WARNER BROS DISCOVERY (MOUNTAIN BIKE WORLD SERIES/WORLD CUP ORGANISER AND BROADCASTER SINCE 2023)
Note from Misspent Summers: Below, you’ll find the full press release from WBD about Amazon Web Services coming on-board as part of the UCI MTB World Series (the umbrella brand for all MTB World Cup disciplines). WBD says this is going to be ‘revolutionary’ and help support commentary teams (hopefully with factual facts, not AI-powered hallucinations and codswallop). This includes Central Cycling Intelligence, which sounds like a spy agency for bikers but is actually the name for the WBD-AWS generative AI platform (reading between the jargon, it sounds like a researching tool for MTB World Series crew. (Presumably the new platform hasn’t been trained on Misspent Summers’s reporting or material as we haven’t been approached to agree any fees for lifting our content.)
Anyway, this confirms our suspicions as reported in our last newsletter after we noticed the AWS logo on the end of a video before anything had been announced. It isn’t clear what the deal is – AWS gets its logo front and centre as a Main Sponsor for the MTB World Series so either they’re putting in some serious money or, er, getting the sponsor slot in exchange for their services. Hopefully it’s the former and the world of MTB racing is about to get a big injection of Amazon cash funding to take the sport to the next level. Whatever the case, AWS already works with F1 (as noted in our newsletter) so has a track record of
[start of press release:]
4th April 2025 | Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) Sports Europe today announces the launch of Cycling Central Intelligence (CCI), an innovative generative AI-powered platform developed in collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS), that transforms how mountain bike events are brought to viewers worldwide. The platform debuts at the 2025 WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series season opener in Araxá, Minas Gerais (Brazil) this weekend, marking a significant advancement in sports broadcasting technology.
As part of this initiative, AWS becomes the Official Cloud Infrastructure, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Deep Learning Provider for the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series, supporting WBD’s mission to further enhance on-screen experiences for mountain bike’s global fan base.
CCI will dramatically improve efficiencies for cycling commentators by mitigating the challenges of accessing comprehensive information about riders, venues and race histories within a live broadcasting environment. By providing instant access to a wealth of data points, it will empower commentary teams to deliver even richer, contextual storytelling to better connect fans with their favourite sport.
“What makes CCI truly revolutionary is how it enhances and complements the human expertise that makes sports broadcasting special,” said Chris Ball, VP, Cycling Events at WBD Sports. “Our commentators and producers bring unmatched levels of experience and passion for the sport, and through our partnership with AWS, CCI ensures they can expertly craft the compelling stories and insights that our viewers love and that will keep them engaged.
“This collaboration represents a significant step forward in our ongoing commitment to innovation in sports broadcasting,” Ball continued. “By combining cutting-edge AI technology with our leading production expertise, we’re setting new standards for how mountain bike events are brought to life for viewers around the globe.”
“AWS is helping Warner Bros. Discovery enhance the art of sports storytelling through the practical uses of generative AI,” said Samira Panah Bakhtiar, General Manager of Media & Entertainment, Games, and Sports at AWS. “This collaboration showcases how AWS’ generative AI services can amplify human expertise. By handling time-consuming research and data synthesis tasks, CCI frees up WBD’s talented commentary teams to focus on their passion and ability to capture the excitement of live sports.”
The CCI platform leverages advanced generative AI capabilities of Amazon Bedrock and Anthropic’s Claude 3.5 on AWS to create a unified knowledge base that processes and analyzes hundreds of documents about riders and events, along with vast databases of results, race times, and athletic performance data.
This comprehensive system enables commentators and production teams to access information through natural language queries, dramatically reducing research time and enabling more engaging, data-driven storytelling. Working backwards from the needs of its broadcasting teams, WBD Sports Europe collaborated with teams at AWS to envision CCI, develop a proof-of-concept, and build the solution.
CCI’s technical architecture carefully balances AI capabilities with human expertise. The platform utilizes Amazon Textract for document processing, Amazon Translate for breaking down language barriers across international content, and Amazon Comprehend for organizing and structuring information. Amazon Bedrock integrates with these services while ensuring broadcasting professionals maintain complete control over the storytelling process.
The platform will continue to evolve throughout the season, with plans to incorporate additional features that will enable WBD’s commentators and production teams to serve mountain bike fans with the best possible live content and viewing experiences.
[end of press release]
