Viamo is proud to join a global commitment, led by the Gates Foundation, to help ensure that people who speak languages currently underrepresented in AI can use AI in their own language and voice.
Out of the approximately 7,000 languages spoken around the world, many remain underrepresented in the data, tools and benchmarks used to build and test AI. As a result, people who speak these languages can be left with AI systems that are less accurate, less useful, or simply unable to understand how they communicate.
This is why Viamo is here
For years, we have worked at the intersection of voice, local languages and access, connecting people to information and services through the phones and mobile networks already around them.
We believe access to AI cannot be defined only by smartphones, apps and reliable internet. For AI to reach people where they are, it needs to work in the languages they speak and through the ways they already communicate.
That is why we are proud to join a global five-year commitment, led by the Gates Foundation, to help ensure that an estimated 3.4 billion people who speak languages currently underrepresented in today’s AI models can use AI in their own language and voice.
Through our work with Google, we are exploring how advances in AI and language technology can be brought together with Viamo’s voice-first infrastructure to reach people through the devices, networks and languages they already use.
Our collaboration is one example of what this looks like in practice: combining the capabilities of leading AI technology with Viamo’s experience delivering voice-based services at scale, in the places and languages where access matters most.
”The benefits of AI shouldnโt stop at the edge of the internet. For AI to serve everyone, it must speak to people in their own languages and on the devices and networks they already use. Weโre proud to join this commitment and help make AI accessible by voice through a simple phone call.
Kellen EilertsChief Partnerships Officer, Viamo
This is a shared commitment involving organizations across AI, research, philanthropy, government, technology and implementation. Each has a different role to play, from strengthening language data and benchmarks to building and deploying tools that people can actually use.
For Viamo, this is about taking what we have learned from bringing voice-based information and services to people in real-world settings and contributing that experience to a much bigger effort.
AI should not be limited by the language you speak, the device you have, or the way you connect.
We are excited to be part of the work to make AI more accessible, useful and relevant to the people and communities who have too often been left out of technological advances.
Signatories:
The Agency Fund
Agentic AI Foundation
AI Access Initiative
AI Scaling Hub
AI Singapore
AI4Bharat
Amazon
Anthropic
Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia
BharatGen
BHASHINI
Bhodan
Cassava Technologies
Centre for Open Societal Systems (COSS)
Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI)
Coalition on Digital Impact
Crane AI Labs
CurrentAI
Data Science Nigeria
Deep Learning Indaba
Digital Green
Digital Umuganda
EkaCare
EkStep Foundation
ElevenLabs
Endless Networks
EqualyzAI
Ethiopia AI Institute (EAII)
Fab AI
Gates Foundation
Google
Indian Institute of Science
International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Canada
Internet Society Foundation
IremboGov
Karya
KERA Health Platforms
Koita Foundation
Lagos Business School
Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS)
Lelapa AI
Masakhane
Microsoft
Ministry of Telecommunications and Digital Affairs, Senegal
Mistral
Mozilla Data Collective
NVIDIA
OpenAI Foundation
Qhala
Renaissance Philanthropy
Rwanda AI Scaling Hub
Sarvam
Sunbird
Translational AI for Networked Universal Healthcare (TANUH)
Technecultura
UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
Unicef
Viamo
Wadhwani AI
World Bank Group
Zoom
