Microsoft Launches Massive Investments to Support Artificial Intelligence in Various European Languages
Microsoft announced an investment of millions of dollars in Europe to develop data supporting artificial intelligence models in more than 12 European languages, in a move aimed at bridging the linguistic gap in this field. The announcement came during statements by the company's president, Brad Smith, to "Agence France-Presse", where he emphasized that heavy reliance on the English language in training current models reduces their efficiency in other languages.
Smith explained that models become "less effective when used in a language where sufficient data is not available", warning that this situation could threaten the future of technology in Europe if diverse data sources are not provided. He pointed out that data scarcity may push users to rely solely on English, hindering linguistic diversity.
As part of this plan, the company plans to open new research centers in Strasbourg starting in September, focusing on developing data in languages such as Estonian and Greek, through digitizing non-English books and producing multilingual audio recordings. Smith confirmed that all resulting data will be available as an open source without monopolization by Microsoft.
This step comes in the context of Microsoft's efforts to strengthen its partnership with Europe, especially after announcing in June its collaboration with the Union governments in cybersecurity and data monitoring fields. Smith affirmed the company's commitment "without reservations" to protecting European sovereignty and data, at a time when the continent is witnessing intense debates on digital sovereignty.
Despite the dominance of American and Chinese companies in the artificial intelligence sector, companies like the French Mistral and Hugging Face are emerging in Europe, along with initiatives like Tilde LM developing solutions tailored to European languages.
In addition to the technical aspect, Microsoft revealed cultural projects including creating a digital version of Notre-Dame Cathedral in collaboration with the Heritage Institute and Iconem company, to be gifted to the French government. The company also collaborated with the French National Library and Museum of Decorative Arts to digitize parts of their collections, aiming to integrate technology with European cultural heritage.
