Google Introduces Yorùbá, Hausa Support For AI Search In Nigeria

Tech giant Google has expanded language support for its Artificial Intelligence-powered Search features to include Yorùbá and Hausa in Nigeria.

The company said the update will allow speakers of the two Nigerian languages to access AI-powered search experiences in their mother tongue, enabling quick summaries and more conversational exploration of information online.

Communications and public affairs manager, West Africa at Google, Taiwo Kola-Ogunlade, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday.

He explained that the development forms part of the company’s broader efforts to make Artificial Intelligence more inclusive across Africa.

According to him, the addition brings the number of African languages supported by the company’s AI Search features to 13.

Kola-Ogunlade said the update would enable more Nigerians to interact with search in familiar languages while seeking information online.

He noted that the feature could benefit users across different regions of the country.

He said, “Building a truly global search goes far beyond translation; it requires a nuanced understanding of local information.

“With the advanced multimodal and reasoning capabilities of our custom version of Gemini in search, we have made huge strides in language understanding.

“This ensures our most advanced AI search capabilities are locally relevant and useful in each new language we support.

“This is about ensuring Nigerians can converse with search in their mother tongues, making information more helpful for everyone.”

He further explained that the expansion means a student in Kano can ask questions in Hausa, while a trader in Ibadan can seek information or advice in Yorùbá.

Kola-Ogunlade added that the feature will also allow users to ask complex questions through text or voice in their preferred language while exploring the web more naturally using Google Search powered by Gemini.