Data Science Nigeria Joins Global Initiative to Bring AI to 3.4 Billion People in Their Own Languages
…DSN joins 60 initial global signatories in a five-year Gates Foundation-convened commitment to advance more inclusive and locally relevant Artificial Intelligence.
Data Science Nigeria (DSN) has joined 60 initial global signatories in a five-year commitment convened by the Gates Foundation to help 3.4 billion people whose languages are currently underrepresented in AI models access and use AI in their own language and voice.
Announced around Gates Foundation Goalkeepers 2026 in New York, the commitment brings together leading technology companies, research institutions, development organisations, governments and community-led organisations working to address one of the most significant gaps in Artificial Intelligence.
The initial signatories include Google, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Anthropic, OpenAI Foundation and Amazon, alongside organisations such as UNICEF, the World Bank Group, Deep Learning Indaba, Masakhane and AI4Bharat.
With approximately 7,000 languages spoken globally, billions of people remain underserved by AI systems that do not adequately understand their languages, voices and contexts.
The five-year commitment will support progress across language data, models, benchmarks, practical applications, responsible data practices and enabling policy.
For Data Science Nigeria, the commitment reinforces a decade-long mission to strengthen Africa's capacity not only to access emerging technologies, but to contribute to how they are researched, developed and applied.
Africa's linguistic and cultural diversity remains significantly underrepresented in many of the datasets and technologies powering modern AI. Addressing this gap requires more than making existing AI systems available across the continent.
It requires representative datasets, African researchers contributing to the science, technical talent capable of building solutions, and strong local innovation ecosystems that can translate AI into meaningful social and economic value.
Speaking on DSN's participation, Dr. Olubayo Adekanmbi, founder and CEO of Data Science Nigeria, said:
“Inclusive AI begins with whose realities our datasets reflect and whose talent we equip to build. Our realities must be represented in the data. Our researchers must contribute to science. Our talent must have the capacity to build, and our communities must share in the opportunities AI creates.”
For DSN, participation in the global commitment also represents a wider shift from access to agency.
As Artificial Intelligence becomes increasingly embedded across education, healthcare, agriculture, financial services, and public systems, Africa must strengthen its ability to generate data, conduct research, develop talent, and build applications that will shape how these technologies operate in local contexts.
Over the past decade, Data Science Nigeria has worked across these foundations through AI talent development, research, technical communities, locally relevant innovation and strategic partnerships, building pathways for Africans to participate more meaningfully in the global AI economy.
“This is both an opportunity and a responsibility,” Dr. Adekanmbi added. “Inclusion cannot end with access to technologies developed elsewhere. Africa must have the capacity and agency to shape the AI future.”
As Data Science Nigeria marks its 10th anniversary, the organisation will continue to contribute its experience in talent, research, representative data, and ecosystem development to the shared global ambition, while strengthening the foundations required for Africa to play a more active role in the future of Artificial Intelligence.
The ambition is clear: an AI future in which language does not determine who can participate, and geography does not determine who gets to build.