Mirage, the AI video company formerly known as Captions, launched what it calls the world’s first AI news network on August 12, streaming live on X through its @TryMirage account. The broadcast features AI-generated news anchors delivering stories in real time without any human presenter on screen, marking the most ambitious deployment of synthetic media in live news broadcasting to date.
The launch builds on technology Mirage has developed since its founding in 2021 by Gaurav Misra and Dwight Churchill, both former Snap Inc. engineers who recognized early that short-form video creation needed to become dramatically easier through AI automation. The company raised $75 million in March 2026 to continue building its video generation models, bringing total funding to approximately $175 million. Its Mirage Studio enterprise platform already generates AI actors and marketing videos for brands, and the news network extends that same synthetic media capability into live journalism.
Mirage is not the first company to attempt AI-generated news anchors, but it may be the first to actually ship a live product at scale. Channel 1, a Los Angeles-based startup, announced plans for an AI anchor news network back in December 2023 and released a showcase reel that generated significant attention, but the company never achieved consistent live broadcasting at the scale it initially promised. Kuwait’s state news agency introduced “Fedha,” an AI-generated presenter, in 2023 as well, and India’s Aaj Tak launched “Sana” as an AI anchor the same year. China has experimented with AI news presenters since Xinhua debuted a virtual anchor in 2018. Each of these attempts operated as experiments or supplements to human-led broadcasts rather than as standalone networks.
The decision to launch on X rather than a traditional broadcast platform or dedicated app aligns with the platform’s aggressive push into live video content throughout 2026. X launched a new live streaming command center and expanded creator payouts in July, signaling that live video is central to its monetization strategy under Elon Musk’s leadership. Streaming an AI news network natively on X gives Mirage immediate access to the platform’s global user base without requiring viewers to download a separate app or visit an independent website.
The broader implications for journalism are deeply contested and will remain so regardless of how polished the broadcast looks on screen today. AI-generated anchors eliminate the cost of human talent, studio infrastructure, makeup departments, teleprompter operators, and the scheduling logistics that constrain traditional news production. A synthetic anchor can broadcast 24 hours a day in any language without breaks, vacations, or salary negotiations. That cost efficiency is precisely what makes the concept attractive to investors and alarming to working journalists simultaneously.
The fundamental question is whether audiences will trust news delivered by a face that does not exist, reading stories it did not investigate, with expressions it does not feel. Mirage’s launch will begin answering that question in real time today.
You can watch the channel live here.
