Google Translate Adds 110 New Language Including Punjabi In Its Biggest Expansion So Far

These newly added languages to Google Translate include widely spoken languages like Cantonese and Punjabi (Shahmukhi) to lesser-known tongues like NKo and Tamazight.

Google is here to unite the world. It believes in destroying the language barrier which separates the people of this earth from each other. With this aim at the centre, Google announced the largest expansion ever to its translation service, Google Translate, by adding 110 new languages to the translator, powered by the PaLM 2 large language model (LLM). With such a wide addition to the list, Google Translate now supports over 1,000 languages. As per Google, this update will empower over 614 million people across and globe and will open up translation for around 8 per cent of the world's population.

Senior Software Engineer at Google Translate in a blog post wrote, “Google Translate breaks down language barriers to help people connect and better understand the world around them. We’re always applying the latest technologies so more people can access this tool: In 2022, we added 24 new languages using Zero-Shot Machine Translation, where a machine learning model learns to translate into another language without ever seeing an example. And we announced the 1,000 Languages Initiative, a commitment to build AI models that will support the 1,000 most spoken languages around the world.”

Google Translate Language Update

The latest addition of languages encompasses quite a diverse range rather than just being focused on a single region. It comprises widely spoken languages like Cantonese and Punjabi (Shahmukhi) to lesser-known tongues like NKo and Tamazight. Google Translate is striding to embrace the rich linguistic tapestry that the world has to offer.

The main driver of this expansion being conducted by Google is the powerful PaLM 2 large language model. This LLM's ability to efficiently learn related languages has been instrumental in narrowing the divide between languages with shared roots. This update can be beneficial, especially for those regions that have a number of dialects there such as the Hindi language family.

This update also aligns with Google’s ambitious 1,000 Languages Initiative which is a project dedicated to developing AI models that support all the world’s most spoken languages.