How Wales is making Cymraeg easier to use with AI
More than 440,000 parallel Welsh-English text segments were released under an open licence through Wales’s 2024 to 2025 technology programme. The data can support Welsh-language artificial intelligence, translation and research, although the figure does not show how widely the resulting tools are used.
The Welsh Government published its programme summary on 31 July 2026, covering grant-funded projects, industry partnerships and technology designed for everyday communication.
Open data strengthened Welsh-language AI
Bangor University’s Iriaith unit produced a Welsh version of the Llama 3 model and advanced the Trawsgrifiwr speech-recognition service. Its work also included Macsen and Welsh text-to-speech tools intended for daily and workplace use.
Mapio Cymru helped raise the number of Welsh names recorded on OpenStreetMap to more than 30,000. A National Library of Wales project added Welsh labels to 11,264 items and tested methods for detecting Welsh place names in digital material.
Cardiff University addressed another data gap through SENTimental, a Welsh sentiment-analysis resource. More than 109,000 words were reviewed and over 4,500 responses collected. Its model achieved about 80% agreement with human scoring within one level, a promising test result rather than proof of universal accuracy.
Three priorities now guide the programme
The Welsh Language Technology Action Plan was followed in January 2025 by three priorities: increasing daily use of Cymraeg through technology, ensuring broad access to Welsh-language tools, and improving AI, speech technology and data sharing.
These priorities support Cymraeg 2050 and Wales’s digital public-service strategy. Partnerships reported by the government included work to improve Welsh handling in major AI systems, handwriting transcription and simultaneous interpretation.
Communication tools address specific needs
The programme also backed Lleisiwr, developed by Bangor University for Welsh speakers at risk of losing their voice because of conditions or treatment. Work with Tobii Dynavox produced TD Snap Express Cymraeg, an augmentative and alternative communication tool for children and adults.
Readers seeking developments beyond this 2024 to 2025 recap should use the Welsh Government’s current page titled “Welsh language technology and artificial intelligence (AI)”, which carries the latest programme information.
Source: Welsh Government Announcements
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The article reflects the Welsh Government’s account of its 2024 to 2025 Welsh-language technology work, published on 31 July 2026.
- Publication and update dates were matched to the source page.
- Project figures were retained with their original scope and qualifications.
- Programme priorities were checked against the three areas listed in the source.
- No unnamed office-holder was presented as a named person.
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- Welsh Government
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- Wales
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- 2026-07-31 16:40
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