Google has added Yorùbá and Hausa to its AI-powered search features, marking a significant step toward making digital information more accessible to millions of Nigerians in their native languages.
The announcement was made by Taiwo Kola-Ogunlade, Google’s Communications and Public Affairs Manager for West Africa, who confirmed that speakers of both languages can now use AI-driven search tools including quick summaries and conversational search — entirely in their mother tongue.
The move is part of Google’s wider push to make artificial intelligence more inclusive across the African continent. With the addition of Yorùbá and Hausa, the number of African languages supported by Google’s AI Search features has grown to 13.
Kola-Ogunlade illustrated the real-world impact of the update with two vivid examples: a student in Kano asking questions in Hausa, or a trader in Ibadan seeking business advice in Yorùbá — both now able to search the web naturally, in the language they know best.
He stressed that true global search goes beyond simple translation. “It requires a nuanced understanding of local information,” he said, pointing to Google’s custom version of the Gemini AI model as the engine behind the improved language comprehension. The technology, he explained, is designed to ensure that AI search capabilities remain locally relevant and genuinely useful in each newly supported language.
Users can now pose complex queries in either language through text or voice, allowing for a more natural and intuitive browsing experience. Google says the update ultimately aims to ensure that no Nigerian is left behind when it comes to accessing information online.
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