Meta's Mission: Preserving Indigenous Languages with UNESCO

Meta Partners With UNESCO on Indigenous Language Translation

Meta is collaborating with UNESCO, the world heritage organization, to explore the integration of lesser-known Indigenous languages into Meta AI. According to TechCrunch reports, the Language Technology Partner Program initiated by Meta is seeking contributors who can furnish over 10 hours of speech recordings with transcriptions, pre-translated sentences, and a substantial body of written work in the target language.

Partnership with Nunavut

The government of Nunavut, a region in northern Canada known for its endangered Native Inuit languages, has already enrolled as a partner in the program. Meta's efforts in the translation and transcription domain may not be as widely recognized as Google Translate, but the company is currently focusing extensively on this area.

Expanding Language Capabilities

In January, Meta's AI research division unveiled a new AI model capable of translating speech from 101 different languages. This advancement is considered a significant stride towards a comprehensive speech-to-speech translation model.

Join the Program

Applications for the Language Technology Partner Program will be accepted until March 7, 2025. Prospective contributors can anticipate further details by April 15, 2025.

Future Prospects

A Meta spokesperson expressed the company's aspiration to develop intelligent systems that cater to diverse human needs across languages and cultures. Collaborative efforts are aimed at enhancing and broadening machine translation and other language technologies.

Several prominent translation platforms have also redirected their focus towards endangered languages. Google, for instance, incorporated the Inuit language Inuktut in October 2024, along with Quechuan, a prevalent Indigenous South American language spoken primarily in Peru in 2022.

AI Advancements at Meta

Meta continues to heavily invest in AI development across various domains. CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently announced Meta's plan to conclude 2025 with "more than 1.3 million GPUs," representing a twofold increase in GPU capacity. This augmentation aims to empower edge AI assistants within the upcoming Llama 4 model, positioning it against renowned competitors such as OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google Gemini.