OpenAI, Meta, Orange to Train AI Models on African Languages (1)

French telecommunications firm Orange SA has partnered with OpenAI and Meta Platforms Inc. to begin training artificial intelligence programs on African languages, addressing a shortage of models for the continent’s thousands of dialects.

The project will start during the first half of next year, the companies said in a statement on Tuesday. Initially, the companies will focus on two West African languages, Wolof and Pulaar, which are spoken by 22 million people in the region. Orange will work with Meta and OpenAI to fine-tune their models and test them with native speakers.

The French phone carrier ultimately wants to expand ...