AI language translator startup DeepL launches traditional Chinese language in Asia push

DeepL, the German AI translation startup, and Google Translate competitor, on Wednesday launched traditional Chinese as a new language option, signaling its ambition to deepen its presence in the Asian market.

The launch follows closely on the heels of DeepL’s $300 million funding round in May, which pushed its valuation to $2 billion, making it one of Europe’s high-profile AI companies. Meanwhile, Wednesday’s launch isn’t DeepL’s initial venture into Asia. The Cologne, Germany-based startup already offers Japanese and Korean on its platform.

Traditional Chinese, predominantly used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, represents a significant market for DeepL. Both regions are pivotal centers for technology and finance, making them prime targets for DeepL’s latest language expansion.

DeepL’s founder and CEO, Jaroslaw “Jarek” Kutylowski, highlighted the importance of Taiwan and Hong Kong in an interview with CNBC.

“Taiwan and Hong Kong are robust technological markets. Taiwan, in particular, is home to major players like TSMC, the world’s largest chipmaker,” Kutylowski said.

Despite the new addition, DeepL’s operations for traditional Chinese will initially be managed from Japan, with potential plans to establish physical offices in Taiwan or Hong Kong in the future.

Last week, DeepL introduced its next-generation large language model (LLM), which the company claims surpasses the translation quality of the latest versions of ChatGPT, Google, and Microsoft. This LLM, trained on vast datasets, is the backbone of DeepL’s superior translation capabilities.

Backed by prominent investors like ICONIQ Growth from Mark Zuckerberg’s family office and Index Ventures, DeepL is positioning itself as a major player in the corporate translation market. With 33 languages now supported, DeepL aims to enhance global business communication, facilitating more effective interactions for its international clients, particularly those in Taiwan and Hong Kong.

DeepL already provides simplified Chinese, primarily used in mainland China, but has not yet penetrated the mainland Chinese corporate market. The introduction of traditional Chinese is a strategic move to compete with China’s tech giants, Baidu and Tencent, which offer their own translation services.

Kutylowski emphasized DeepL’s competitive edge: its ability to provide accurate translations across numerous languages, enabling businesses in Hong Kong and Taiwan to communicate effectively on a global scale. He also hinted at further expansion, noting, “Our focus is on Asian languages, so expect to see more additions in the coming months.”

Founded in 2019 by Jaroslaw Kutylowski, DeepL originated as Linguee, an online dictionary. Kutylowski envisioned a revolutionary neural machine translation (NMT) system that could outperform traditional statistical machine translation (SMT). DeepL’s neural networks excel at capturing and accurately reproducing subtle linguistic nuances, a quality validated through blind tests where professional translators consistently prefer DeepL’s translations over those of competitors.

DeepL’s mission is ambitious: to eliminate language barriers and facilitate seamless communication worldwide. Since the launch of DeepL Translator in 2017, it has been recognized for producing the highest-quality translations available. With support for 32 languages, DeepL offers both a free service for short text translations and a subscription model designed for business use. The company boasts over 100,000 paying customers, including prominent firms like Deutsche Bahn.

With its latest expansion into traditional Chinese, DeepL is poised to make significant inroads in Asia, helping businesses in key markets like Taiwan and Hong Kong bridge linguistic divides and engage more effectively on the global stage.