Mark Zuckerberg Family Office-Backed Google Translate Rival DeepL Expands Language Offerings With Traditional Chinese Targeting Baidu, Tencent

DeepL, a prominent artificial intelligence translation startup from Germany, introduced traditional Chinese as a new language option. This move aims to enhance its footprint in Asia.

What Happened: The Cologne-based company, valued at $2 billion, primarily targets businesses with its translation software. Traditional Chinese is widely used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, both significant hubs for technology and finance, which influenced DeepL’s decision to launch in these markets, reported CNBC on Tuesday.

CEO Jaroslaw Kutylowski highlighted Taiwan and Hong Kong as “strong technological markets” and emphasized Taiwan’s role as a major exporter, particularly in the semiconductor industry.

This launch follows DeepL’s previous expansions into Asia, where it already supports Japanese and Korean languages. Kutylowski noted similarities between the Taiwanese market and other successful Asian markets like Japan and Korea.

DeepL’s traditional Chinese operations will initially be managed from Japan, with potential plans to establish a physical presence in Taiwan or Hong Kong in the future.

Last week, DeepL unveiled its next-generation large language model, claiming superior translation quality compared to OpenAI‘s ChatGPT, Alphabet Inc.‘s GOOGL, GOOG subsidiary Google, and Microsoft Corp. MSFT.

The company, backed by notable investors such as ICONIQ Growth, a fund from Mark Zuckerberg's family office and Index Ventures, aims to compete with major Chinese tech firms like Baidu Inc. BIDU and Tencent Holdings. TCEHY.

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Kutylowski indicated that DeepL’s focus will remain on expanding its Asian language offerings, with more languages expected in the coming months. The company is also developing a spoken language translation product, although no launch timeline has been provided.

"Translation of spoken language is going to be an important part of our strategy in Asia. We will see more and more of that product being a revenue stream," Kutylowski said.

Why It Matters: DeepL’s expansion into traditional Chinese comes amid a growing trend of AI-powered translation technologies making significant strides. In October 2022, Meta Platforms Inc. META launched an AI speech-to-speech translation system for Hokkien, a primarily oral language. This innovation highlighted the potential of AI to bridge communication gaps in languages lacking a standard written form.

Furthermore, in May, OneMeta Inc. ONEI introduced advanced technology for real-time translation and transcription across multiple languages, showcasing the transformative power of AI in global communication.

China has also been active in the AI translation space. In May, the China Cyberspace Research Institute unveiled a large language model based on President Xi Jinping‘s political philosophy. This model, still in testing, underscores China’s commitment to integrating AI with its political and social narratives.

Additionally, YouTube announced in June 2023 its AI-powered dubbing service, aiming to simplify video dubbing in various languages. This initiative, part of Alphabet Inc.’s efforts, highlights the increasing role of AI in content creation and distribution.

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This story was generated using Benzinga Neuro and edited by Kaustubh Bagalkote