Microsoft aims to improve AI performance in European languages
Microsoft will invest millions of dollars in Europe to produce digital data for Artificial Intelligence (AI) models in more than a dozen languages, the president of the American company announced to AFP on Monday (21).
Leading AI models are trained mostly in English, but their databases must offer more sources in other languages, otherwise their survival "is at stake," Brad Smith said in an interview with AFP.
“I think it's fair to say that a model is less capable when it's in a language with insufficient data,” the executive said, which could lead users to prefer English.
The American technology group plans to set up, from September, branches of its research centers in the French city of Strasbourg, on the border with Germany, to “expand the availability of data” in at least 10 of the 24 official languages of the European Union (EU), such as Estonian and Greek.
The Redmond, Washington-based company plans to help digitize books in languages other than English and record hundreds of hours of audio in multiple languages.
“Microsoft will not own any of this data, which will be publicly accessible” and will be available in open source, Smith assured.
The issue of European digital sovereignty has been stirring up the worlds of politics and technology on the continent for months. In this context, Microsoft is seeking to position itself as the company most compatible with the European market.
In June, for example, it announced that it would step up cooperation with EU governments on cybersecurity and introduce new measures to control data stored in its centers in Europe.
"We are fully committed to defending European sovereignty and data," the executive insisted.
Most AI giants are American and Chinese, but Europe is home to several stars in the sector, such as the French company Mistral and the French-American startup Hugging Face, an open-access AI platform.
Some European initiatives, such as TildeLM, are also trying to develop AI models for the region's languages.
Microsoft also announced Monday that in the coming months it will create a digital replica of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, in collaboration with the Heritage Institute and the French company Iconem, which will be donated to the French government.
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