Global coalition commits to bringing AI to 3.4 billion people in their own languages

Sixty organizations from across the global AI ecosystem announced on September 21, 2026, in New York, a joint five-year commitment to close one of AI’s most significant access gaps by providing safe, effective AI services in the languages people speak around the world, according to a press release by the Gates Foundation. The coalition, which includes frontier AI labs, researchers, companies, governments, community groups, and philanthropies, aims to enable an estimated 3.4 billion people who speak underrepresented languages to use AI tools in their own language and voice. Signatories will contribute expertise and resources according to their respective capabilities. The statement also invites other actors across the ecosystem to join the effort. The initiative represents a unified push to make AI genuinely inclusive.

Today, only a small percentage of the world’s roughly 7,000 languages are considered well-resourced enough to support strong AI capabilities. Many others, often described as “low-resource languages,” are underrepresented in the data, tools, and benchmarks used to build and test AI. As a result, people who speak them, including many in communities already less well served by today’s technologies, can be underserved by systems that are less accurate or less useful. Dialect, slang, idioms, and cultural context can change meaning, with potentially serious consequences when accuracy matters most. Voice is particularly important where typing or text-based interfaces are less practical or accessible.

The initial signatories reflect the range of expertise needed to make progress, spanning locally led research and implementation, AI model development, funding, and public policy. Participants include Amazon, Anthropic, Google, Microsoft, Mistral, NVIDIA, OpenAI Foundation, and Zoom, alongside AI4Bharat, Lelapa AI, Masakhane, Sarvam, and Karya. Government participants include the Ministry of Telecommunications and Digital Affairs of Senegal, the Ethiopia AI Institute, and the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Philanthropies and multilateral bodies such as the Gates Foundation, IDRC Canada, Unicef, and the World Bank Group are also on board. Closing this gap could make AI-enabled information and services more accessible across health, education, agriculture, financial services, and public services.

Participating organizations will work together to accelerate progress across four areas: building the open language layer, a shared and safe data infrastructure available under open licenses; tracking progress honestly through assessments and benchmarks; turning language data into working tools usable by any AI builder; and reaching people safely, guided by responsible practices that protect privacy, consent, and data sovereignty. The commitment builds on years of existing work across the global AI ecosystem to improve language and voice capabilities. It connects efforts across datasets, models, benchmarks, applications, and implementation. The aim is to unite these strands around one shared goal. Each signatory contributes according to its own strengths.

The coalition’s detailed structure, governance, and workstreams will be developed collaboratively over the coming year. The joint commitment brings together technology firms, researchers, philanthropies, governments, and civil society organizations around the same target population of 3.4 billion people. The full list of signatories and the complete text of the commitment have been made publicly available. Additional partners are encouraged to join and contribute their own resources and expertise. The effort marks a coordinated step toward ensuring AI can serve users in every language and voice.