08:27 AM EST, 11/26/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Meta Platforms Inc ( META ) , OpenAI and French telecommunications operator Orange will collaborate to train artificial intelligence models on African languages, multiple media outlets reported Tuesday.

The project, set to begin in early 2025, will initially focus on Wolof and Pulaar, two West African languages spoken by around 22 million people. Future phases of the project will focus on additional sub-Saharan languages such as Lingala, Swahili, and Bambara.

Orange is also considering to localize data processing and the hosting of OpenAI's models in European data centers, CNBC reported, citing the French telco. The company will utilize its European and African public cloud capacity, as well as its data centers, to train the models, Bloomberg reported.