The Technologies Changing How You’ll Watch the 2026 Winter Olympic Games

During the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, 5G and 4K were the leading technologies available to many viewers. There was some AI, but it was mostly used for athletes’ benefit. For the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Games there will be more technology than ever, for both athletes and fans.

Much of that technology has never been used at the Games before, says Yiannis Exarchos, the managing director of Olympic Broadcasting Services and executive director of Olympic Channel Services. The two organizations are responsible for producing much of the television, radio, and digital coverage, and content on Olympics.com. “In Milano Cortina, people will have unprecedented experiences,” Exarchos says.

Here’s everything you need to know.

Drone Views of Athlete Performances

One of the big technologies coming to the Milano Cortina Olympics are first-person view, or FPV, drones. These radio-controlled aircraft transmit images from their onboard cameras in real time to “offer dynamic perspectives on the race tracks,” Exarchos explains.

This year’s Games will also be the first to offer 360-degree real-time replay. Offered as part of a collaboration with Alibaba, the system uses multi-camera replay systems and stoboscopic analysis to ofter multi-angle views, freeze frames, and slow-motion images of athlete’s incredible moves.

Another first is a new tracking system for curling stones. “It will be possible to view the path, speed, and rotation of each stone in real time,” Exarchos explains. Suspended rail cameras and ice-level views will help viewers understand the game better, as will detailed stone trajectory graphics and real-time data.

The Olympics’ New AI Tool: Olympic GPT

Got a question about this year’s Games? Olympic GPT is here to help. The bot specializes in producing content for the Olympics.com website. It’ll offer real-time results and information on sport regulations, and, for the first time, will have the ability to interact with questions about the results of ongoing competitions.

“Artificial-intelligence-based article summaries on Olympics.com will give fans a quick and clear overview,” Exarchos says. “They highlight key points to help users decide what to explore further, while also improving accessibility and reading from mobile devices.”

Virtual Video Production

For the 2026 Winter Olympic Games, a lot of the video production will be moving to the cloud. Virtual outside broadcasting (OB) vans will help decentralize the process of getting images from events to fans’ screens. Using virtual cloud infrastructure, organizers say, helps reduce energy consumption by some 50 percent and enables remote production for events like curling and speed skating.

Everything will be managed through an entirely cloud-based master control room recently tested at the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia in January. There, space savings were 75 percent over the previous championship, while energy consumption was reduced by 65 percent.

The Olympics’ Big Data Moment

For this winter’s Games, Olympic Broadcasting Services is also testing an automated description platform to help teams manage the huge volume of video coming in live during their events. “Artificial intelligence breaks down broadcasts into searchable clips, suggests shot descriptions and keywords, and helps users quickly find highlights, making storytelling faster and easier,” says Exarchos. AI will then analyze real-time traffic spikes on Olympics.com and identify the most valuable moments for fans.

This story originally appeared in WIRED Italia. It has been translated from Italian.