{"id":1119384,"date":"2025-02-20T05:34:34","date_gmt":"2025-02-20T13:34:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/?post_type=msr-project&p=1119384"},"modified":"2026-03-27T00:39:20","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T07:39:20","slug":"project-gecko","status":"publish","type":"msr-project","link":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/project\/project-gecko\/","title":{"rendered":"Project Gecko"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Project Gecko<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

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As generative AI transforms productivity and access to knowledge, its benefits must extend beyond English-speaking and Western-centric contexts. Historically, each industrial revolution has introduced equity gaps profoundly impacting societal divides. In this fourth industrial revolution driven by AI, there is a valid concern that these disparities could widen further. The challenge lies in how this technology navigates the complexities of non-English languages and cultures. However, at Microsoft Research we are committed to building AI models and copilots that are equitable by design, capable of serving diverse linguistic and cultural contexts, and focused on closing, not widening, global opportunity gaps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Project Gecko is a cross-lab Microsoft Research initiative advancing the Equitable Generative AI Project by developing equitable models and trusted multilingual copilots\u2014designed for population scale use that can serve entire communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Co-led by the Microsoft Research Accelerator, Microsoft Research India, and Microsoft Research Africa, Nairobi, Gecko explores how AI can be adapted and deployed widely in low-resource settings. The project integrates research in multilingual small and large language models, multilingual speech models, synthetic data creation for low resource settings, HCI and grounded evaluation. To do this we deploy a blend of NLP, ethnographic design, and machine learning methods to create new multidisciplinary paradigms for building human-centered AI\u2014 with real-world deployments spanning agriculture and education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why this matters:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Large language models have the potential to transform how people access information and services. Yet, most are trained on high-resource languages and reflect dominant cultural contexts. Gecko seeks to reverse this dynamic \u2014 building AI systems from the ground up, shaped by the knowledge, languages, and modalities of the global majority. Achieving population-scale impact requires a fundamental rethinking of how AI is localized, evaluated, and deployed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Core research areas:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n