Google Translate Expands to 110 More Languages, Covering 614 Million Speakers

Google has announced the expansion of its translation service to include 110 additional languages, powered by the PaLM 2 AI model. This update brings Google Translate's total supported languages to 243.

The new additions, such as Afar, Cantonese, Manx, Nko, Punjabi (Shahmukhi), Tamazight (Amazigh), and Tok Pisin, collectively represent over 614 million speakers, approximately 8% of the global population.

Google has highlighted that these languages are at varying stages of usage, with some having millions of speakers while others are actively being preserved despite having no active speakers. The company emphasized the importance of considering regional varieties, dialects, and spelling standards when adding new languages.

“Our approach has been to prioritize the most commonly used varieties of each language. For example, Romani is a language that has many dialects all throughout Europe. Our models produce text that is closest to Southern Vlax Romani, a commonly used variety online. But it also mixes in elements from others, like Northern Vlax and Balkan Romani,” said Issac Caswell, a Google software engineer.

This expansion is part of Google’s broader initiative, announced in 2022, to support 1,000 languages using AI. Last year, the company added 24 languages spoken by over 300 million people. Meanwhile, Apple has announced at WWDC that its translation app will now include support for Hindi, though it currently supports just over 20 languages.