Orange partners with OpenAI to develop AI models for African languages

French telecommunications company Orange has signed a multi-year partnership with OpenAI that will provide direct access to pre-release artificial intelligence models and support the development of language technologies for African regions.

The agreement, announced on Tuesday, will enable Orange to access OpenAI’s models through secure European infrastructure, with the company’s chief artificial intelligence officer Steve Jarrett highlighting the strategic importance of the partnership. “OpenAI’s models are the most popular. And so it made financial sense for us to have a direct billing relationship,” Jarrett told Reuters.

The collaboration aims to address digital inclusion by fine-tuning AI models to understand regional African languages, initially focusing on Wolof and Pulaar. These languages are spoken by 16 million and 6 million people respectively in West Africa, currently underrepresented in artificial intelligence technologies.

Orange plans to provide these fine-tuned, open-source AI models for non-commercial use, including applications in public health, education, and community services. The initiative will commence in the first half of 2025, with a long-term vision of recognising all languages across Orange’s 18-country African footprint.

The partnership comes at a time of significant investment in generative AI, with enterprise spending increasing sixfold to reach $13.8 billion in the past year. According to Menlo Ventures, 72 per cent of enterprise information technology decision-makers anticipate broader adoption of generative AI in the near term.

“Orange is focused on delivering ‘Responsible AI,’ where the company carefully chooses the most appropriate and simplest solution for each AI use case,” the company stated in its press release. This approach involves using advanced language models only when necessary and selecting more cost-effective and environmentally friendly alternatives.

More than 50,000 Orange employees currently use OpenAI models, and the new agreement will provide early access to pre-release versions. Additionally, the company will collaborate with Meta to translate and develop language models, demonstrating a commitment to technological innovation and digital inclusivity.