Unbabel, leading AI translation company, today launches its new product, Widn.AI, which continues to gain ground in the inchoate landscape of machine translation. Designed by the proprietary large language model Tower, this new service competes with Google Translate and DeepL in a very crowded market for translation services.
According to Unbabel CEO Vasco Pedro, AI is set to make human translators obsolete. In a talk at the Web Summit in Lisbon, he forecast that, within three years, translation services would no longer need human intervention. “I think for the first time, we believe that translation is now fully in the realm of AI capabilities,” said Pedro. “You can do a lot of things without needing humans at all in the case of translation.”
Unbabel’s previous offerings combined machine learning with human editors to ensure quality, but Pedro emphasized that Widn.AI will operate independently of human oversight. The system supports translation in 32 languages, providing a comprehensive solution for businesses and individuals in need of multilingual content.
While acknowledging that humans still have an edge in complex translation scenarios, Pedro believes that the gap between AI and human performance is rapidly closing. “The advantage right now is so razor thin that except for the most difficult use cases, AI is getting really close,” he explained.
The launch of Widn.AI comes at a time when large language models are becoming increasingly integral to translation services. As AI systems improve, the cost per translated word is expected to drop significantly. However, Pedro anticipates that this will be offset by the growing volume of content that needs to be translated, supporting continued growth for Unbabel.
The company is currently in talks with investors to secure between $20 million and $50 million in funding to further expand the capabilities of *Widn.AI* and capture a larger share of the global translation market.
