Orange has announced that it will partner with OpenAI and Meta to fine-tune AI large language models (LLMs) to understand regional languages in Africa that are currently not understood by any GenAI model.
This innovative project aims to develop custom AI models that allow customers to communicate naturally in their local languages with Orange for customer support and sales.
Orange will also provide these open-source AI models externally with a free license for non-commercial use, such as public health, public education, and many other services.
Orange intends to help drive AI innovation in these regional languages by collaborating on these new AI models with local startups and other technology companies. By doing so, Orange intends to mitigate the growing digital divide faced by people across the African continent.
The initiative, which will commence in the first half of 2025, will initially focus on incorporating regional languages, namely Wolof and Pulaar, spoken by 16 million and six million people, respectively, in West Africa.
Orange’s long-term goal is to work with many AI technology providers to enable future models to recognize all African languages spoken and written across Orange’s 18-country footprint in the region.
Orange says it will enable AI models to better understand regional languages by fine-tuning them with diverse examples of these languages, such as OpenAI’s ‘Whisper’ speech model and Meta’s ‘Llama’ text model.
”Orange’s vision is to make AI and other related advances accessible to all, including illiterate populations, who cannot benefit from the potential of artificial intelligence. The initiative is a blueprint for how AI can help those currently excluded.” the company said in a statement.
In addition to this regional African language recognition project, OpenAI and Orange have signed an agreement that will provide Orange with direct access to OpenAI’s models, which will be available for the first time in Europe with data processing and hosting in European data centers. This will enable Orange to work on improving existing solutions across its footprint.
Furthermore, this new partnership will also facilitate early access to OpenAI’s latest and most advanced AI models, enabling the realization of other key use cases, such as AI-based voice interactions with Orange customers.
Orange says it is focused on delivering ‘Responsible AI,’ where the company carefully chooses the most appropriate and simplest solution for each AI use case. This approach means only using the latest large language models where necessary and otherwise choosing simpler and cheaper solutions, thereby minimizing the impact on the environment and reducing cost for the many valuable AI use cases deployed across Orange.
Orange adds that it’s also playing a key role in the development of a vibrant European AI ecosystem by promoting open-source AI projects that make AI affordably accessible for all.
