Orange Partners With OpenAI To Access Pre-Release AI Models

The French telecommunications giant Orange partnered with OpenAI to access pre-release AI models, becoming the first telecom company to reach this type of deal in Europe.

According to Reuters, Steve Jarrett, Chief AI Officer at Orange Group confirmed yesterday a multi-year deal between both companies during an interview with the news agency.

“OpenAI’s models are the most popular. And so it made financial sense for us to have a direct billing relationship”, said Jarrett to Reuters. “We have the ability to have access to pre-release versions of their models. We have the ability to influence the road map… Those models are all served from secure infrastructure that’s hosted in Europe.”

With this new deal, Orange takes the lead and becomes Europe’s first telecom firm to get direct access to OpenAI’s latest models.

Orange also signed another agreement with Meta and OpenAI to develop AI models to translate African languages.

According to CNBC, the French company wants to develop custom AI models that can process and understand Western African languages like Wolof and Pulaar—spoken by 16 million people—and also consider the local context and culture as these companies’ AI models are more powerful in English and trained primarily with American information.

Orange takes the lead in Europe in adopting OpenAI technologies in the telecom market and expanding its potential, not only to commercial clients but also to universities, startups, and governments.

OpenAI has recently announced multiple partnerships with other large European companies like BBVA—with presence in Europe, Latin America, and the U.S.—, and recently reached a $157 billion valuation.