Technology company Google has expanded language support for its Artificial Intelligence powered search features to include Yorùbá and Hausa, a development the company says will allow more Nigerians to interact with advanced search tools in their native languages.
The announcement was disclosed in a statement on Thursday by Google’s Communications and Public Affairs Manager for West Africa, Taiwo Kola Ogunlade.
According to the company, the update enables speakers of the two Nigerian languages to access AI powered search experiences designed to provide quick summaries and allow conversational exploration of information online.
Kola Ogunlade said the update forms part of Google’s broader effort to make Artificial Intelligence systems more inclusive and accessible across Africa.
He noted that the addition increases the number of African languages supported by Google’s AI search features to 13.
Digital access in local languages has remained a major challenge across Africa despite rising internet penetration and mobile phone usage. According to data from the Nigerian Communications Commission, Nigeria has more than 220 million active mobile connections and over 160 million internet users, yet a large portion of online content remains dominated by English.
Technology companies have increasingly faced pressure to develop tools that reflect linguistic diversity across major markets. In Nigeria alone, more than 500 indigenous languages are spoken, though Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo remain the most widely used in education, media and commerce.
Google said the latest update allows Nigerians to conduct searches and ask questions using conversational prompts in their preferred language.
Kola Ogunlade explained that the feature could allow everyday users to interact with search tools more naturally.
A student in Kano, he said, could ask questions in Hausa, while a trader in Ibadan could seek business information in Yoruba.
Google said the language expansion relies on advanced Artificial Intelligence models integrated into its search system, including a customised version of its Gemini technology.
“Building a truly global search goes far beyond translation. It requires a nuanced understanding of local information,” Kola Ogunlade stated.
“With the advanced multimodal and reasoning capabilities of our custom version of Gemini in search, we have made huge strides in language understanding.
“This ensures our most advanced AI search capabilities are locally relevant and useful in each new language we support.
“This is about ensuring Nigerians can converse with search in their mother tongues, making information more helpful for everyone.”
Major technology companies have increasingly invested in Artificial Intelligence development tailored to African languages and data environments as digital adoption grows across the continent.
Industry reports show that language barriers remain one of the biggest obstacles to digital inclusion in Africa, where hundreds of millions of internet users rely on indigenous languages in daily communication.
Google said the expanded language support will allow users to ask complex questions through text or voice while exploring web content more naturally.
The company said the initiative is part of continuing efforts to ensure AI driven technologies remain accessible to diverse communities across the region.
