Microsoft Looks to Boost AI Performance in European Languages
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 digitizing 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 digitizing items from the country's BNF national library and Decorative Arts Museum.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al Arabiya
2 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
US says tariff deadline of August 1 is firm, no extensions
The US deadline of August 1 for imposing tariffs on its trading partners is firm and there will be no extensions, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Sunday. 'So no extensions, no more grace periods. August 1, the tariffs are set. They'll go into place. Customs will start collecting the money, and off we go,' Lutnick told 'Fox News Sunday.' For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app. After the levies kick in, President Donald Trump – who was negotiating Sunday in Scotland with European Union officials – is still willing to keep talking, Lutnick said. Of the Europeans, Lutnick said, 'You know they're hoping they make a deal, and it's up to President Trump, who's the leader of this negotiating table. We set the table.' So far five countries have struck deals with the Trump administration ahead of the Friday deadline as it tries to overhaul the global system of largely free trade by slapping tariffs on countries that the United States deems as engaging in unfair practices. These five are Britain, Vietnam, Indonesia the Philippines, and Japan. The levies they accepted are often higher than the new base rate of 10 percent that the United States has applied to most countries since April. But they are far below the levels the Trump administration threatened to impose if no deal were reached.
Arab News
20 hours ago
- Arab News
Saudi Arabia accelerates AI push with HUMAIN at the helm
JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia is ramping up its artificial intelligence ambitions with the launch of HUMAIN, a flagship initiative backed by the Public Investment Fund, as part of its broader drive to become a global AI powerhouse. With more than $40 billion earmarked for AI-related investments under Vision 2030, the Kingdom is scaling up infrastructure, forging global tech partnerships, and positioning itself as a hub for advanced AI applications across the Middle East and beyond. 'Artificial intelligence has become a strategic priority for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as it aligns strongly with the country's economic transformation goals and enhances governance,' Youssef Saidi, an economic expert and research fellow at the Economic Research Forum, told Arab News. He added that the Kingdom's AI strategy aims to position the country as a global AI leader by the end of the decade. 'Saudi Arabia is leveraging AI to drive innovation and economic growth across various sectors, including healthcare, finance, and logistics, helping the country's transition into a knowledge-based economy. Saudi Arabia is investing heavily in AI research and development to become a regional leader in this field,' he added. HUMAIN launch Wholly owned by PIF, HUMAIN was launched in May by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to develop advanced Arabic language models and establish Saudi Arabia as a global leader in AI infrastructure and innovation. The initiative is expected to support local innovation, develop intellectual property, and attract top global AI talent and investment. 'HUMAIN is due to offer one of the world's most powerful multimodal Arabic language models, advanced AI tools, and next-generation data centers,' said Saidi. He added: 'HUMAIN is expected to contribute to Saudi Arabia's AI ecosystem by fostering human-centered AI innovation, encouraging the design of AI systems that are ethical, inclusive, transparent, and accountable.' The company aims to enhance human capabilities, improve quality of life, and address real-world challenges relevant to Saudi society. Its focus spans strategic sectors including energy, healthcare, manufacturing, and financial services. Building talent To ensure long-term sustainability of its AI sector, Saudi Arabia is also prioritizing talent development and creating an attractive environment for global expertise. Speaking to Arab News, Yaseen Ghulam, associate professor of economics and director of research at Riyadh-based Al-Yamamah University, said the Kingdom aims to train 20,000 data and AI experts by 2030 through investor-friendly regulations and public-private partnerships. He cited initiatives such as the ATHKA AI Olympiad and Elevate AI training program as key contributors to public education and skills development. 'Microsoft, Huawei, Accenture, Atomcamp, and Oracle are also establishing AI academy programs,' Ghulam added. He added that the Kingdom is gaining global traction as a destination for skilled professionals, noting that it ranks third globally in AI hiring growth, with women leading in skills penetration. 'The country pays AI experts 20 percent more than the world average, along with additional incentives,' said Ghulam. Tech partnerships Saudi Arabia's AI ambitions are being bolstered by collaborations with global tech giants, particularly in semiconductors and advanced computing. 'NVIDIA and AMD, two major players in the graphics processing unit market, are playing a key role in Saudi Arabia's AI infrastructure development,' said Saidi. He noted that NVIDIA is partnering with the Kingdom to build AI factories powered by its Grace Blackwell supercomputers, with a projected capacity of 500 megawatts. 'The partnership between Saudi Arabia and NVIDIA aims to establish hyperscale AI data centers, enabling Saudi Arabia to train and deploy sovereign AI models at scale,' the research fellow added. NVIDIA is also working with the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority to train thousands of developers in accelerated computing and AI. Saidi highlighted the key role of global tech giants like California-based semiconductor firm Advanced Micro Devices in supporting Saudi Arabia's AI ecosystem and driving its digital transformation agenda. 'AMD is investing up to $10 billion to deploy 500 megawatts of AI compute capacity over the next five years and collaborating with Saudi organizations to develop AI enterprise platforms, supporting digital transformation across industries,' he said, adding that the NVIDIA and AMD investments will have a great benefit in developing human capital and shaping the future of AI-driven activities in Gulf Cooperation Council countries. Strategic edge Ghulam pointed to several factors that position the Kingdom as a strong global AI contender, including its recognition as the world leader in government strategy in the sector in the 2024 Global AI Index. 'The country has a significant advantage in hosting data centers and training AI models due to its strategic location, financial might, excess energy, expanding private sector, and digitization push,' he said. The Kingdom is home to over 240 AI-focused businesses and has seen a fivefold increase in its AI patent portfolio since 2019. Heavy investment in digital infrastructure is also enhancing global connectivity and AI dataset capabilities. Ghulam added that Saudi Arabia has one of the strongest AI-related physical infrastructure footprints in the region, with 10 supercomputers and the highest number of colocation data centers in the Middle East. 'The Arabic language AI models that are to be developed by HUMAIN are expected to serve more than 450 million people worldwide who speak Arabic around the world,' said Ghulam. With foundational work well underway, Ghulam said the Kingdom has set an ambitious benchmark for the years ahead. 'Saudi Arabia aims to become one of the top 15 AI prepared countries by 2030, investing heavily in energy, data centers, semiconductors, and connectivity,' he said. He added that the Kingdom's public AI spending commitments — both current and projected — surpass those of the US and China. 'HUMAIN plans to build 1.9 gigawatts of data center capacity by 2030 and collaborate with NVIDIA to ship cutting-edge GPUs to Saudi Arabia,' he concluded.
Leaders
a day ago
- Leaders
China Calls for New Global AI Body amid Fierce Competition with US
China has called for the establishment of a new organization to promote global cooperation on artificial intelligence (AI), reported Reuters. The move is widely seen as an attempt by China to position itself as an alternative to the US as the two countries feverishly compete for dominance in this pivotal technology. Coordinating Global Efforts During the annual World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai, China's Premier, Li Qiang, said that Beijing wants to contribute to coordinating international efforts to regulate the fast-evolving AI technology and share the Chinese advances in that critical field. Li added that Beijing advocates for open AI access, promoting equal rights for its use by all nations and businesses. He added that China is ready to share its expertise and products with other countries, especially the Global South – a term that refers to developing, emerging or lower-income countries, mostly in the southern hemisphere. The state-sponsored WAIC conference attracts leading companies, government officials, researchers and investors. This year's edition has seen the participation of more than 800 companies, displaying 3,000 high-tech products, 40 large language models, 50 AI-powered devices and 60 intelligent robots. AI Regulation The Chinese Premier pointed to the challenge of regulating AI's growing risks, which included an insufficient supply of AI chips and restrictions on talent exchange, highlighting the importance of global consensus. 'Overall global AI governance is still fragmented. Countries have great differences particularly in terms of areas such as regulatory concepts, institutional rules,' he said. 'We should strengthen coordination to form a global AI governance framework that has broad consensus as soon as possible,' Li added. Global Governance During the conference, China's Vice Foreign Minister, Ma Zhaoxu, said that Beijing wanted the proposed organization to foster pragmatic cooperation in AI. The organization's headquarters would likely be in Shanghai, Ma told a roundtable of representatives from over 30 countries, including Russia, South Africa, Qatar, South Korea and Germany. Moreover, the Chinese Foreign Ministry unveiled an action plan for global AI governance, calling on governments, international organizations, enterprises and research institutions to collaborate and foster international exchanges including through a cross-border open-source community. US-China Competition The Shanghai conference took place amid a heated technological competition between the US and China, with the AI at the center stage. On Wednesday, the US President, Donald Trump, revealed an AI action plan aimed at loosening restrictions on the development and deployment of artificial intelligence. It aims to expand American AI exports to allies, in an attempt to maintain the American edge over China in this critical technology. Without explicitly mentioning Washington, Li appeared to refer to the US' efforts to hamper China's advances in AI, warning that the technology risked becoming the 'exclusive game' of a few countries and companies. The US has banned advanced technology exports to China, including the most high-end AI chips made by companies such as Nvidia, and chipmaking equipment, citing concerns that the technology could boost China's military capabilities. However, these measures failed to curb China's advancements as Beijing has continued making AI breakthroughs. AI Race As the AI is poised to be the most transformative technology of the 21st century, it has become the key battleground in the technological competition between Washington and Beijing. Although the US is still dominating in the production of top AI models, China is closing the gap, according to Stanford's 2025 AI Index Report, issued in April. While the US leads in AI models quantity, China has rapidly shrunk the quality gap to near parity across major benchmarks in 2024. Furthermore, Beijing maintains its leadership in AI publications and patents, the report noted. 'The race is tighter than ever, and no one has a clear lead,' the Stanford report authors concluded. Short link : Post Views: 152
