Miami (October 22, 2025) – During the second day of the Inter American Press Association’s (IAPA) 81st General Assembly, Rodrigo Bonilla, Google’s Head of News Partnerships for Spanish-speaking Latin America, Rodrigo Bonilla, presented the progress and next steps of the collaboration between Google and the IAPA to strengthen innovation, sustainability, and safety in regional media, while addressing participants’ questions about artificial intelligence, digital traffic, and the relationship between major technology companies and the media ecosystem.
Bonilla emphasized that the alliance between Google and the IAPA has become an example of sustained cooperation in favor of the digital transformation of journalism in Latin America. “Our goal is to equip media organizations with the tools they need to thrive in an era defined by technological innovation,” he stated.
Bonilla addressed the profound changes reshaping news consumption, driven by younger generations and the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) in content production and distribution. “Readers are seeking more visual, contextual, and personalized experiences that integrate multiple perspectives and are solution-oriented,” he explained. He added that these changes represent both challenges and opportunities for newsrooms, which can leverage technology to deepen audience engagement and enhance the quality of their journalism. “What is new is not the transformation itself, but the speed at which technology enables us to respond to users’ demands,” he remarked.
The evolution of Google’s products
Bonilla detailed how advances in artificial intelligence are redefining Google’s products—from Search to Gmail and Discover—all now powered by more capable and versatile generative models. The search engine, he noted, now processes over 14 billion daily queries, 15% of which are entirely new.
“Our vision for search focuses on four pillars: personalization, multimodality, AI-driven discovery, and assistive capabilities. The goal remains to connect users with quality information and the media that produce it,” he said.
He highlighted that new search formats—such as AI Overviews and AI Mode—are designed not to replace journalistic content but to increase its visibility and relevance. These features allow users to explore topics more deeply, displaying a broader set of useful links and prominently attributing original sources. “We are committed to ensuring that the evolution of search continues to drive high-quality traffic to news sites. It’s not just about quantity but about the depth and engagement of readers,” he stressed.
Bonilla emphasized that artificial intelligence should be seen as an ally of journalism, not a threat. “AI frees up time for deeper reporting, helps analyze large volumes of data, and supports journalists in creating more relevant and contextualized content,” he said.
He highlighted GNI tools such as Pinpoint, focused on investigative journalism; Flow, for generating visualizations and short videos; and Fact Check Explorer and SynthID, designed to enhance verification and content traceability.
He also reaffirmed Google’s commitment to protecting copyright and ensuring transparency in how content is used to train AI models. He mentioned the Google Extended system, which allows publishers to decide whether their content can be used in such processes, emphasizing that “innovation must always be grounded in trust and respect for journalistic work.”
Bonilla reviewed the main initiatives developed with the IAPA in recent years: the Enhanced Fundamentals Lab (2023), focused on strengthening media digital fundamentals; the Digital Revenue Accelerator (2024), aimed at improving newsroom sustainability; and the AI Product Lab (2025), currently underway, which brings together more than 40 media outlets from 12 countries in an eight-month program featuring 12 group sessions, 44 individual workshops, and personalized support for developing AI-based projects.
As part of his presentation, Bonilla shared technical resources from Google Search Central, including guides on AI Overviews and AI Mode functionality, performance and traffic recommendations, and tools to analyze traffic fluctuations and algorithm changes. Attendees accessed these materials through QR codes displayed during the session.
Bonilla also highlighted Google News Initiative’s training efforts in Latin America: GNI Live programs offering biweekly open webinars; a regional network of coaches in Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, and Mexico, who trained more than 8,700 journalists in 2025; and free online courses developed with the Knight Center at the University of Texas at Austin.
In closing, Bonilla reaffirmed that the collaboration between Google and the IAPA will continue to deepen in the coming years, focusing on three pillars: technological innovation, digital sustainability, and the strengthening of safe, resilient newsrooms. “We are in a profound moment of transition, and open dialogue with the media and associations like the IAPA is key to building the future of Latin American journalism together,” he concluded.
