Facebook's AI translator now works with 200 languages

Facebook parent Meta says an updated version of its machine-learning-based language translation engine can now handle 200 languages.

Why it matters: In a world that is increasingly online, many people are excluded from important information resources because of limited translation availability.

Details: The technology, dubbed NLB-200, is part of Facebook's "No Language Left Behind" initiative. A prior version could translate among 100 languages.

• Meta will use the system to help with more than 25 billion translations a day, while also open-sourcing both the model and other resources as well as providing grants to nonprofits with ideas for how to use the technology.
• Meta has also partnered with the Wikimedia Foundation, which is using the technology to translate articles in 20 languages for which few or no machine-language resources exist.

What they're saying: "The AI modeling techniques we used are helping make high-quality translations for languages spoken by billions of people around the world," CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a Facebook post.

Go deeper: Meta plans AI-driven universal translator