Deutsche Telekom unveils AI model for 24 European languages

The European telecommunications landscape is shifting as Deutsche Telekom commercializes a new open-source AI language model designed specifically for European languages, marking a significant step toward digital sovereignty in the EU.

The breakthrough development: Deutsche Telekom has become the first provider to commercialize the OpenGPT-X Teuken-7B language model, a sophisticated AI system developed by a consortium of German research institutions.

• The model was created through collaboration between Fraunhofer Institutes IAIS and IIS, TU Dresden, the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence, and the Juelich Research Center
• Training was conducted on the JUWELS supercomputer, with the model released under an open-source license on November 26
• The project received approximately EUR 14 million in funding from Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action

Technical capabilities and innovations: The Teuken-7B model offers comprehensive language support and enhanced efficiency features that set it apart from existing solutions.

• Supports all 24 official EU languages through an optimized tokenizer system
• Designed for energy and cost efficiency in operation
• Incorporates retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) capabilities for document summarization and enterprise chatbot functions
• Offers integration through a unified API for existing AI assistants and proprietary chatbots

Deployment and compliance framework: T-Systems, Deutsche Telekom’s subsidiary, has structured the implementation to meet European business needs and regulatory requirements.

• Businesses can choose to operate the model in certified Telekom data centers in Germany
• Ensures GDPR compliance across European operations
• Offers flexibility for deployment on customer’s own infrastructure
• Integrates seamlessly with Telekom’s standardized Business GPT product

Strategic implications: The launch represents a significant move toward European technological independence in the AI sphere.

• Ferri Abolhassan, CEO of T-Systems, emphasizes the model’s role in establishing European sovereignty in AI technology
• Positions Germany as a leader in developing open and trustworthy AI language models
• Provides German authorities and institutions with access to advanced European-developed generative AI technology

Looking ahead: While the successful launch of Teuken-7B marks a crucial first step in European AI independence, the true test will be its adoption rate among businesses and public institutions, and its ability to compete with established international AI providers in terms of performance and reliability.