We Don’t Know What It Is, But It’s Not Rob Warner

We’ve just received this press release from MTB World Series organisers Warner Brothers Discovery. We’ve checked, and it’s not April Fool’s Day. Are you ready? There is random bold text, there is Artificial Intelligence, the promise of enhanced experiences for viewers, and a partnership with Amazon. There is even the word ‘leveraged’.

Are you sure you’re ready? Then read on. And if you can still string sentences together after reading it, please head to the comments and tell us what you think.

WARNER BROS. DISCOVERY LAUNCHES GENERATIVE AI-POWERED CYCLING CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE PLATFORM IN COLLABORATION WITH AWS

New AI technology platform transforms storytelling capabilities for WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series coverage, enhancing the viewer experience through data-driven insights

4^thApril 2025| Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) Sports Europe today announces the launch ofCycling Central Intelligence (CCI), an innovative generativeAI-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 the2025 WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series season opener in Araxá, Minas Gerais (Brazil) this weekend, marking asignificant advancement in sports broadcasting technology.

As part of this initiative,AWS becomes the Official Cloud Infrastructure, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Deep Learning Providerfor the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series, supporting WBD’s mission to further enhance on-screen experiences for mountain bike’s global fan base.

“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 aunified 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 toaccess information through natural language queries, dramaticallyreducing research timeand enablingmore 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 carefullybalances AI capabilities with human expertise.The platform utilizes Amazon Textract for document processing, Amazon Translate forbreaking down language barriersacross international content, and Amazon Comprehend fororganizing and structuring information. Amazon Bedrock integrates with these services while ensuringbroadcasting professionals maintain complete control over the storytelling process.

The platformwill 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.

The2025 WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Seriesbegins inAraxá, Minas Gerais (Brazil) this weekendwith the first of 16 rounds. Live and on-demand coverage of every race is available throughWBD’s channelsand platforms includingEurosport(Europe) andTNT Sports(UK & Ireland) with streaming onMaxanddiscovery+, as well as around the world through WBD’s broadcast partners. More information on where to watch the opening round of the 2025 season is availablehere.

Feel the need to recover from that? Here’s an interview with Rob Warner, where he talks about the preparation that goes into being a great commentator.

Hannah Dobson

Managing Editor

I came to Singletrack having decided there must be more to life than meetings. I like all bikes, but especially unusual ones. More than bikes, I like what bikes do. I think that they link people and places; that cycling creates a connection between us and our environment; bikes create communities; deliver freedom; bring joy; and improve fitness. They're environmentally friendly and create friendly environments. I try to write about all these things in the hope that others might discover the joy of bikes too.

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