Abstract: The subject of this study is the era of smart media, which will have a significant impact on the news media ecosystem. It will lead to another industrial transformation and change in the news industry. The convergence of traditional and new media is made possible by 5G technology, cloud computing and big data technologies. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the pace of media analytics, digitisation and platformisation. In addition, recent years have seen a surge in the development of artificial intelligence, which has been applied to various fields such as military, healthcare, retirement, etc. The development of ChatGPT has been an important signal of intelligent change in the media industry. The news media industry is undergoing a transformation that is already well underway. The research methodology is comprehensive and includes: descriptive method, comparative data analysis, statistical analysis and content analysis. The novelty of the research is the analysis of intellectual media paradigms in China and Russia. The nature of media interaction between the two countries, as well as the trajectory of global innovative technologies are investigated. Trends related to the development of digitalisation and AI in the following areas are described in detail: digitalisation of operations, news production, development of media platforms and AI technologies, and media content digitalisation processes. A prospective analysis is made of the need for international specialists with both humanitarian and technical competences. The digital and intellectual transformation of news media can take the cooperation between the two countries to a new historical level. In addition, media cooperation between China and Russia can help stabilise the world situation and provide a favourable ecological environment for international media.