A Google training course that teaches Pakistani reporters to use AI tools has now been taken by over 4,000 people, the company said at a Lahore event on 12 November. Digital Sahafat is two years old, and its newest classes are in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, alongside Punjab and Sindh.
The headline results come from Google’s survey of 2025 participants, so they are self-reported by people who took the course. Google says 85% of respondents have made its AI tools part of their routine. Close to 68% told it they now spend at least a quarter less time on everyday research and reporting. Google also quotes a 260% rise in confidence, without explaining how that was measured.
The course started in September 2024 and works as a chain. Tech Valley, an ed-tech social enterprise, trains instructors, who then teach newsrooms and university classes. Google counts over 60 of these instructors. Partners include education and information departments in Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan, and universities such as Beaconhouse, Bahria, International Islamic University and Karachi.
The focus is checking whether online material is genuine and getting routine work done faster. Google says it wants newsrooms to keep these habits rather than try a tool once.
Ali Dar, who advises Punjab’s chief minister on AI, said at the event that no government can manage this alone and that tech firms, universities and media houses must work together. Kate Beddoe, who leads news partnerships for Google in Asia Pacific, said watching journalists here adopt AI was inspiring her wider work in the region.
Google presents the course as one piece of its global journalism training, which it says has reached 2.5 million people in 120 countries.
This story is based on a press release from Google.
