Nonprofit Current AI launches open-source chatbot and offline language device

In short: Current AI, a nonprofit, is building public AI tools, including an offline language device for India and a new open-source chatbot.

What happened

Current AI is a nonprofit group that says it wants AI to be available to everyone, not only through private companies. In an interview with TechCrunch, CEO Ayah Bdeir compared the idea to the early World Wide Web, which anyone could use for free.

One recent project is Suno Sutra, a pocket-sized device made with Bhashini, the Indian government’s AI language team. It can run AI in 22 Indian languages without an internet connection. Current AI says the design is open-source, meaning other people can reuse the plans and code (like sharing a recipe that anyone can cook and improve).

Current AI has also been handing out grants. Last month it set aside $3.2 million for four organizations working in places including Kenya, Lebanon, and the Brazilian Amazon. These projects focus on local languages and on keeping community data under community control.

At the AI for Good Summit in Geneva, Current AI launched Alpha Chat, an open-source chatbot built in about seven weeks with help from groups including Hugging Face, Mozilla, and MIT Media Lab. Current AI also announced a collaboration with Tokyo-based Sakana AI to work on shared open-source building blocks for AI that better support language and culture.

Why it matters

Many popular AI systems are owned by private companies, and they often work best in English and a handful of major languages. Current AI is trying to provide a public option, especially for communities whose languages and cultural materials are often missing from today’s AI tools.

Source: TechCrunch AI