
Microsoft looks to boost AI performance in European languages
Microsoft
is investing millions of dollars to funnel more European-language data into AI development, company president Brad Smith told AFP Monday.
With today's leading AI models mostly trained on material in English, "the survival of these languages and the health of these cultures is quite literally at stake" without a course correction, Smith said in an interview.
AI models are "less capable when it is in a language that has insufficient data," he added -- which could push more users to switch to English even when it is not their native language.
Microsoft will from September set up research units in the eastern French city Strasbourg to "help expand the availability of
multilingual data
for AI development" in at least 10 of the European Union's 24 languages, including Estonian and Greek.
The work will include digitising books and recording hundreds of hours of audio.
"This isn't about creating data for Microsoft to own. It is about creating data for the public to be able to use," Smith said, adding that the information would be shared on an open-source basis.
The US-based company has in recent months striven to position itself as especially compatible with a gathering political push for European technological sovereignty.
Leaders in the bloc have grown increasingly nervous at their dependency on US tech firms and infrastructure since Donald Trump's reelection to the White House.
In June, Microsoft said it was stepping up cooperation with European governments on cybersecurity and announced new "
data sovereignty
" measures for its data centers on the continent.
Smith said that Monday's announcement was just the latest evidence of the company's commitment to Europe.
Most leading AI firms are American or Chinese, although Europe has some standouts like France's Mistral or Franco-American platform Hugging Face.
Away from Microsoft, some European initiatives such as TildeLM are pushing to develop local-language AI models.
The Windows and Office developer also said Monday that it was working on a digital recreation of Paris' Notre-Dame cathedral that it plans to gift to the French state, as well as digitising items from the country's BNF national library and Decorative Arts Museum.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
&w=3840&q=100)

First Post
16 minutes ago
- First Post
EU, US close to trade agreement as Trump, von der Leyen set for Scotland talks
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will meet US President Donald Trump in Scotland on Sunday, as the EU and US edge closer to sealing a key trade agreement. The deal could impose a 15% tax on EU imports and 50% duties on steel and aluminium. read more European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will meet with US President Donald Trump in Scotland on Sunday, after EU officials and diplomats indicated they expected to clinch a basic trade agreement this weekend. The deal would most likely contain a 15% baseline tax on all EU products entering the United States, as well as a 50% duty on European steel and aluminium, according to officials and diplomats. 'Following a good call with @POTUS, we have agreed to meet in Scotland on Sunday to discuss transatlantic trade relations, and how we can keep them strong,' von der Leyen said in a post on X. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Following a good call with @POTUS, we have agreed to meet in Scotland on Sunday to discuss transatlantic trade relations, and how we can keep them strong. — Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) July 25, 2025 Trump on Friday said there was a 50-50 chance or perhaps less that the US would reach a trade agreement with the European Union, adding that Brussels wanted to 'make a deal very badly'. 'We are close to an agreement and it is possible we will reach it during the weekend,' one senior EU official said. Trump will visit his golf courses in Scotland and meet British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday. European luxury and auto shares - two of the sectors most exposed to tariffs along with wine and spirits - rose, with LVMH and Europe's largest car manufacturer Volkswagen closing up around 4% and 3%, respectively, the biggest gainers. Combining goods, services and investment, the EU and the United States are each other's largest trading partners by far. The American Chamber of Commerce in Brussels warned in March that any conflict jeopardised $9.5 trillion of business in the world's most important commercial relationship. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The EU is facing US tariffs on more than 70% of its exports - 50% on steel and aluminium, 25% on cars and car parts and a 10% levy on most other goods, which US President Donald Trump has said he would hike to 30% on August 1, a level EU officials said would wipe out whole chunks of transatlantic commerce. Further tariffs on copper and pharmaceuticals are also looming. The EU has prepared countermeasures that could enter into force on August 7 in the event that talks collapse. Even if the EU agrees a 15% tariff, avoiding the threat of an even higher one, French car parts supplier OpMobility said it was concerned that the bloc as a whole seemed unable to negotiate better terms than its individual countries. 'In the short term, we can probably say that we've avoided the worst, but that does not mean that it's a good deal, at the end of the day it shows that the relationship is unbalanced,' CEO Laurent Favre said late on Thursday. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Meanwhile, VW's chief executive Oliver Blume on Friday told investors the carmaker hoped investment commitments could help it win further concessions on US tariffs once Washington and the EU had struck a broad trade deal.

Economic Times
an hour ago
- Economic Times
US stocks rise on US-EU trade deal prospects; Intel falls
Wall Street's main indexes were higher on Friday after EU officials signaled that a framework trade deal with the U.S. could be signed as soon as this weekend, while Intel tumbled following a disappointing forecast. ADVERTISEMENT At 11:36 a.m. the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 71.91 points, or 0.15%, to 44,762.88, creeping up to the record high it had touched on December 4. The S&P 500 gained 15.65 points, or 0.24%, to 6,378.89, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 51.29 points, or 0.25%, to 21,110.19. Intel dropped 9% after the chipmaker forecast steeper third-quarter losses than expected and announced plans to slash jobs. Deckers Outdoor soared 18% after beating first-quarter revenue and profit estimates on resilient demand for its sneakers and boots in international diplomats said the proposed agreement would set a 15% baseline tariff on EU goods entering the U.S. and a 50% levy on European steel and aluminum. President Donald Trump said earlier in the day the odds of a U.S.-EU trade deal were "50-50".Negotiations with South Korea, too, accelerated as countries scrambled to sidestep Trump's steep import duties. ADVERTISEMENT "It's another notch in the gun where trade victories seem to be a driving force right now," said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research."Wall Street's being rewarded for its belief that these are negotiating tactics rather than realities. And until that changes, investors will continue to be encouraged by additional agreements." ADVERTISEMENT The flurry of trade progress including fresh agreements with Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines helped set the three major indexes on track for a strong finish to the week, if gains the week also saw some setbacks. Heavyweights Tesla and General Motors stumbled and were on track for their steepest weekly losses in nearly two months if the declines continue. ADVERTISEMENT Tesla CEO Elon Musk warned of tougher quarters ahead amid shrinking U.S. EV subsidies, while General Motors took a hit after absorbing a $1.1-billion blow in its second-quarter earnings from Trump's focus turns to the U.S. Federal Reserve meeting next week, with Wall Street widely expecting the central bank to hold interest rates steady as it weighs the impact of the tariffs on inflation. ADVERTISEMENT Trump stepped up his campaign for borrowing costs to be lowered after a rare visit to Fed headquarters on Thursday. Often a vocal critic of Fed Chair Jerome Powell, he claimed on Friday that their meeting had gone well and hinted that Powell might be warming to the idea of rate now see about 64% chance of a rate cut in September, according to CME's FedWatch other stocks, Health insurer Centene posted a surprise quarterly loss, but its shares gained 6.6%.Paramount Global rose 1.3% after U.S. regulators approved its $8.4-billion merger with Skydance issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.12-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.43-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq. The S&P 500 posted 33 new 52-week highs and six new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 44 new highs and 42 new lows. (You can now subscribe to our ETMarkets WhatsApp channel)
&w=3840&q=100)

Business Standard
an hour ago
- Business Standard
Govt may mandate public procurement of 25% sustainable green steel
Ashwini Kumar, economic advisor to the Ministry of Steel, confirmed that public procurement would play a key role in creating a market for low-emission steel premium Saket Kumar New Delhi Listen to This Article The government is finalising a green steel procurement mandate, with a potential 25 per cent target, even as it criticises the European Union's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) as a trade barrier that undermines ongoing India-EU free-trade agreement (FTA) talks. Ashwini Kumar, economic advisor to the Ministry of Steel, confirmed that public procurement would play a key role in creating a market for low-emission steel. He said the government was considering a mandate to ensure green steel is not edged out by cheaper, high-emission alternatives. 'We are working on that also. It's a tricky business. I don't know when we will