Orange, the French telecoms giant, announced on Nov. 26 that it will partner with Openai and Meta to fine-tune artificial intelligence (AI) large language models (LLMs) to understand African languages. Orange said the custom AI models will enable its users across Africa to communicate with customer support and sales in their native languages.

Additionally, the telecom operator said open-source AI models will be provided externally with a “free license” for non-commercial use, such as for public health and education. According to a statement, Orange also intends to drive AI innovation in these regional languages through collaborations with local startups and other tech companies. The goal is to mitigate the growing digital divide faced by the continent’s residents.

Initially, the project will focus on two languages in West Africa: Wolof and Pulaar, which are spoken by 24 million people. Over the long term, Orange said it hopes to work with as many AI technology providers as possible to enable future models to recognize African languages ​​spoken and written in 18 countries where it has a presence.

“By fine-tuning leading AI models such as Openais ‘Whisper’ speech model and Meta’s ‘Llama’ text model with diverse examples of these languages, we will enable them to better understand these regional languages,” the telecom operator said.

In its statement, Orange said it wants AI to be accessible to everyone in these regions, including the illiterate and other disadvantaged groups.

Besides the agreement focusing on African languages, Orange said it has signed an agreement with Openai, which gives it direct access to the latter’s models. This access enables Orange to improve existing solutions. Furthermore, this separate arrangement will give Orange early access to advanced AI models, enabling new applications like AI-powered voice interactions for customers.

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