Making AI work for everyone, everywhere: our approach to localization

OpenAI’s mission is to ensure AGI benefits all of humanity, and to fulfill this mission we need to meet people where they are all over the world.

AI is increasingly recognized as critical national infrastructure, on a par with electricity. Governments and institutions around the world want to ensure their citizens and economies can benefit from the AI era by having access to the most capable systems available.

For AI to deliver on that promise, it also needs to be locally relevant. That means speaking in local languages and with local accents, respecting local laws, and reflecting cultural norms and values.

Only a small number of countries, however, are in a position to develop frontier AI models themselves. For most, the challenge is not how to build a model from scratch, but how to adapt the best available AI so it works for their specific context. This is something we consistently hear from governments around the world: they want sovereign AI they can build with us, not just systems translated into their language.

Through our OpenAI for Countries initiative⁠, we have been exploring how localization could work in practice. The goal is to allow for localized AI systems, while still benefiting from a global, frontier-level model.

We are currently piloting a localized version of ChatGPT for students in Estonia as part of our ChatGPT Edu work, incorporating local curricula and pedagogical approaches. We are also exploring pilot localisation efforts with other countries. As part of our commitment to transparency in how AI is researched and deployed, we are sharing more detail on how localization works.

The Model Spec includes “red-line principles⁠(opens in a new window)” that apply to all deployments, including those under the OpenAI for Countries program. In them, we emphasize that “human safety and human rights are paramount to OpenAI’s mission,” and make clear that: