Orange(ORAN) CNBC·2024-11-26 11:00Partnership and AI Development - French telecoms giant Orange is partnering with Microsoft-backed OpenAI and Meta to build custom AI models for understanding regional African languages [2] - The custom AI models are based on OpenAI's Whisper and Meta's Llama open-source AI models, which can be adapted to meet specific needs [3] - The initiative aims to address the lack of understanding of West African languages by most conversational AI systems [3] Focus on West African Languages - Orange plans to roll out AI models incorporating Wolof and Pulaar, spoken by approximately 16 million and 6 million people respectively, starting in early 2025 [5] - Wolof is spoken in Senegal, the Gambia, and southern Mauritania, while Pulaar is primarily spoken in Senegal [6] - The company aims to expand the initiative to cover all 18 West African countries [7] Challenges with Current AI Models - Major AI models like OpenAI's GPT, Meta's Llama, and Anthropic's Claude are not well-suited for African needs as they were not trained on data from the region [8] - Current AI models often lose important context, such as culture and language, when applied to regions like Europe, the Middle East, and Africa [4] Sovereign AI and Localization - Orange is tapping into the concept of "sovereign AI," which emphasizes localizing data storage and processing to better represent specific languages, culture, and history [9] - The company is also localizing data processing and hosting OpenAI's models in European data centers to gain early access to advanced AI models [10] AI Applications in Business - Orange is using AI to improve customer service, including AI-powered voice systems, and to optimize mobile network planning and operations [11][12] - AI systems help identify patterns in network data to predict failures before customers notice [12] Open-Source and Non-Commercial Use - Orange will provide the open-source AI models with a free license for non-commercial uses, such as public health and education [7]