logo image
  • News
    • People Moves
    • Deal Wins
    • Demand Drivers
    • M&A and Funding
    • Financial Results
    • Technology
    • Academia
    • Industry News
    • Features
    • Machine Translation
    • — Divider —
    • Slator Pro
    • — Divider —
    • Press Releases
    • Sponsored Content
  • Data & Research
    • Research Reports & Pro Guides
    • Language Industry Investor Map
    • Real-Time Charts of Listed LSPs
    • Language Service Provider Index
  • Podcasts & Videos
  • Events
    • Design Thinking – February 2021
    • — Divider —
    • SlatorCon Coverage
    • Other Events
  • Directory
  • RFP Center
  • Jobs
MENU
  • News
    • People Moves
    • Deal Wins
    • Demand Drivers
    • M&A and Funding
    • Financial Results
    • Technology
    • Academia
    • Industry News
    • Features
    • Machine Translation
    • — Divider —
    • Slator Pro
    • — Divider —
    • Press Releases
    • Sponsored Content
  • Data & Research
    • Research Reports & Pro Guides
    • Language Industry Investor Map
    • Real-Time Charts of Listed LSPs
    • Language Service Provider Index
  • Podcasts & Videos
  • Events
    • Design Thinking – February 2021
    • — Divider —
    • SlatorCon Coverage
    • Other Events
  • Directory
  • RFP Center
  • Jobs

Advertise on Slator! Download the 2021 Online Media Kit Now

  • Slator Market Intelligence
  • Slator Advertising Services
  • Slator Advisory
  • Login
Search
Generic filters
Exact matches only
Advertisement
Amazon Plans to Take On Google Translate, Media Reports

4 years ago

June 27, 2017

Amazon Plans to Take On Google Translate, Media Reports

Technology ·

by Florian Faes

On June 27, 2017

4 years ago
Technology ·

by Florian Faes

On June 27, 2017

Amazon Plans to Take On Google Translate, Media Reports

Google Translate could get a formidable challenger. Amazon is preparing to roll out its own machine translation service, CNBC reported, citing an anonymous source. Slator was unable to independently verify the report. We will provide follow-up coverage as the situation evolves.

Amazon will offer the machine translation (MT) technology it is already using internally to third parties, according to CNBC. The service, to be provided by cloud computing arm Amazon Web Services, could be announced before the annual Re:Invent conference in Las Vegas in November 2017.

The possible launch follows the US e-commerce giant’s acquisition of Pennsylvania-based translation startup Safaba in late 2015.

Advertisement

Amazon and Google – two of the world’s most valuable firms – have been locked in a fierce battle in a range of categories, including shopping, data analytics, and smart home devices – apart from cloud computing.

If its MT service pushes through, Amazon will join a growing list of leading tech companies challenging Google Translate. Among those companies are Microsoft, IBM and Chinese search behemoth Baidu. Facebook, which has developed MT for use in its social network, could also leap into the fray.

Amazon has been beefing up its MT capabilities, opening an office solely for this purpose in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania earlier in 2017.

Staying Tuned

At the time, the office with 50 employees was catering to teams inside Amazon itself, helping solve language translation problems across various use-cases and applications. But Bill Kaper, General Manager of Amazon Pittsburgh and General Manager of the Translation Services group, hinted on the possibility of going “beyond” developing MT for Amazon’s own business groups. “You will have to stay tuned,” he told Slator then.

On how the rise of MT will impact human translation, Kaper said “we absolutely believe human translators and human translation services will continue to be a vital component to improving the overall translation space.”

A much bigger push into machine translation would make sense for Amazon. For most big tech firms, machine translation has increasingly become a proxy for progress in artificial intelligence, which big 4 consulting firm PwC says will add trillions of dollars to global GDP by 2030.

For the broader language services industry, an impending market entry by Amazon would likely mean quality gains in machine translation as investment in research is ramped up even more.

TAGS

Amazonartificial intelligenceBaiduFacebookGoogleGoogle TranslateIBMmachine translationMicrosoft
SHARE
Florian Faes

By Florian Faes

Co-Founder of Slator. Linguist, business developer, and mountain runner. Based in the beautiful lakeside city of Zurich, Switzerland.

Advertisement

SUBSCRIBE TO THE SLATOR WEEKLY

Language Industry Intelligence
In Your Inbox. Every Friday

SUBSCRIBE

SlatorSweepSlatorPro
ResearchRFP CENTER

PUBLISH

PRESS RELEASEDIRECTORY LISTING
JOB ADEVENT LISTING

Bespoke advisory including speaking, briefings and M&A

SLATOR ADVISORY
Advertisement

Featured Reports

See all
Slator 2020 Language Industry M&A and Funding Report

Slator 2020 Language Industry M&A and Funding Report

by Slator

Slator 2021 Data-for-AI Market Report

Slator 2021 Data-for-AI Market Report

by Slator

Slator 2020 Medtech Translation and Localization Report

Slator 2020 Medtech Translation and Localization Report

by Slator

Pro Guide: Sales and Marketing for Language Service Providers

Pro Guide: Sales and Marketing for Language Service Providers

by Slator

Press Releases

See all
iDISC Awarded ISO 27001 Information Security Management Certification

iDISC Awarded ISO 27001 Information Security Management Certification

by iDISC

XTRF Launches a Bi-Monthly Free Networking Event for Localization Professionals

XTRF Launches a Bi-Monthly Free Networking Event for Localization Professionals

by XTRF

150 Million Words Translated: the German EU Council Presidency Translator Sets New Records

150 Million Words Translated: the German EU Council Presidency Translator Sets New Records

by Tilde

Upcoming Events

See All
  1. Memsource MT Post-Editing Pricing Models Webinar

    Pricing Models for MT Post-Editing Workshop

    by Memsource

    · February 3

    Hear a panel of innovative localization professionals share different approaches for MT post-editing pricing.

    More info FREE

Featured Companies

See all
Text United

Text United

Memsource

Memsource

Wordbank

Wordbank

Protranslating

Protranslating

Seprotec

Seprotec

Versacom

Versacom

SDL

SDL

Smartling

Smartling

Lingotek

Lingotek

XTM International

XTM International

Smartcat

Smartcat

Translators without Borders

Translators without Borders

STAR Group

STAR Group

memoQ Translation Technologies

memoQ Translation Technologies

Advertisement

Popular articles

Why Netflix Shut Down Its Translation Portal Hermes

Why Netflix Shut Down Its Translation Portal Hermes

by Esther Bond

The Slator 2020 Language Service Provider Index

The Slator 2020 Language Service Provider Index

by Slator

Top Language Industry Quotes of 2020

Top Language Industry Quotes of 2020

by Monica Jamieson

SlatorPod: The Weekly Language Industry Podcast

connect with us

footer logo

Slator makes business sense of the language services and technology market.

Our Company

  • Support
  • About us
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy

Subscribe to the Slator Weekly

Language Industry Intelligence
In Your Inbox. Every Friday

© 2021 Slator. All rights reserved.

Sign up to the Slator Weekly

Join over 13,000 subscribers and get the latest language industry intelligence every Friday

Your information will never be shared with third parties. No Spam.