Epic Battle in Automatic Speech Translation

Florian and Esther discuss the language industry news of the week, with the release of Slator’s Pro Guide: Solution Sales for Language Service Providers and more exciting research to come.

The duo talk about the latest in language AI, with OpenAI gaining traction as a potential default for machine translation, and the firing and rehiring of CEO Sam Altman. Meanwhile, the European Patent Office has denied Google’s patent application for neural machine translation. 

The podcast explores the emergence of speech translation as a key focus for major technology companies, with Google launching Translatotron 3 and Gemini, while Meta introduces Seamless.

Over in Europe, the EU Parliament announced an open competition for the recruitment of intercultural and language professionals. Paris invests EUR 2m on a speech-to-speech translation app called Tradivia to assist communications during the 2024 Olympics.

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Meanwhile, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) plans to release an RFP for language services worth an estimated USD 100m.

In M&A news, Esther covers notable deals, including Cloudbreak Health’s sale to GTCR for USD 180m, ElaN’s acquisition of AVB Vertalingen, TransPerfect’s purchase of WordBee, and XTM’s acquisition of Rigi.