Why 4 billion people are excluded from the AI revolution and how we're fixing it with data supply chains for African languages.
Show Notes
In this inaugural episode, we sit down with Doudou, the CEO of OneNine, to discuss the critical challenge of making AI accessible to African language speakers.
Topics Covered
- The state of African languages in AI training data
- Building data supply chains for underrepresented languages
- OneNine's approach to language data collection
- The economic opportunity in language technology
- Challenges and solutions in the African AI landscape
About the Guest
Doudou is the CEO and founder of OneNine, a company focused on creating data infrastructure for African languages in AI systems. With a PhD in machine learning and experience at Maersk, he's building the future of inclusive AI from Sweden while coordinating a network of contributors across Africa.
Key Timestamps
0:00 - Introduction and background8:15 - The data problem: Why African languages are excluded15:30 - Understanding how LLMs learn languages22:45 - OneNine's data supply chain approach26:45 - Cultural bias in AI systems35:20 - How the OneNine platform works42:10 - The contributor network across Africa52:05 - Advice for diaspora builders1:00:15 - The business model and investor perspective1:08:30 - What success looks like in 5 years1:15:45 - Government support for African tech ecosystems1:22:30 - Final thoughts and the meaning of "OneNine"