In a fast-moving year full of ups and downs for the language industry, there is rarely time to cover all notable news in depth. Slator Sweep bridges the gap, bringing the headlines directly to Slator subscribers each day. The top 10 most popular stories from Sweep in 2024 reflect and touch on tough times and bright spots, with plenty to look forward to in 2025. Get Sweep by subscribing to one of our annual plans.
Is an interstate move ever just for a change in scenery? Certainly not for Super Agency TransPerfect, which is no longer incorporated in the state of Delaware. CEO and cofounder Phil Shawe explained to DailyMail.com that he had reincorporated TransPerfect in Nevada to escape Delaware’s “archaic” business system. In a cheeky move, Shawe replied to Elon Musk’s February 2024 post on X announcing SpaceX’s move to Texas with TransPerfect’s own Certificate of Conversion from Delaware to Nevada.
San Francisco-based AI translation provider Lilt announced in October 2024 a new strategic OEM solution with Hewlett Packard Enterprise. The new offering will combine Lilt software with HPE servers. The feature is described as providing secure access to translation, a requirement in organizations in highly regulated industries, or those handling sensitive data, such as defense, intelligence, and government.
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A group of court interpreters shared via WhatsApp notice of a “withdrawal of services” for thebigword from September 23-27, 2024. The National Register of Public Service Interpreters published the message on its website, drawing attention to the group’s claims that thebigword owed outstanding payments and uses unqualified interpreters.
UK gaming conference Develop announced in May 2024 six finalists for the Develop:Star Awards 2024 Best QA & Localisation Provider, including Testronic, Pole To Win, and Universally Speaking. (Keywords Studios ultimately took home the award in July 2024.)
A May 2024 televised interview put the language industry in the spotlight. Valencia-based La 8 Mediterráneo spoke with Barnaby Weiss, Chief Business Officer at TransPerfect, about localization and AI’s impact on the translation world.
Language AI provider DeepL — known, pre-AI commercialization, for its machine translation — scored a spot on the Forbes AI 50 list, an annual ranking of “the most promising privately-held artificial intelligence companies.” The April 2024 edition of the list, Forbes’ sixth so far, described DeepL as a “language translation company,” and noted the USD 100m the business had raised to date.
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Landexx, a German language services provider, was one of a number of companies to go under in 2024. Indications of Landexx’s insolvency popped up on German legal aggregation sites in June 2024. Joachim Peter alerted translators in a post about the company declaring bankruptcy, and directed translators with outstanding invoices to contact the bankruptcy trustee. Peter also warned translators not to accept future jobs appearing under the name Landexx.
French LSP Acolad announced in June 2024 a “strategic partnership” with language AI company DeepL, a step that Acolad believes will help it “meet the growing demand from larger organizations for generative AI.” The collaboration, part of a broader plan to balance human expertise with technology, was slated to focus on new integrations for businesses adopting AI, among other initiatives.
Unfortunately, bankruptcy is not the only trigger for layoffs. In June 2024, the Communications Workers of America (CWA) filed Unfair Labor Practice charges against Lionbridge. The CWA, the largest communications and media labor union in the US, claimed that Lionbridge cut a 160-person team of QA testers for Activision due to their involvement in union-related activities. The group also took issue with the terms of the severance package, and argued that, as a supplier for Microsoft, Lionbridge should be held to the same employment practice standards.
Ending on a lighter note, who in the language industry has not had a laugh at a mistranslation, whether in person or online? While fun for readers, a viral post can do real damage to a brand’s reputation. So in October 2024, the Seoul city government, aiming to boost culinary tourism, announced a plan to promote standardized translations of the names of Korean foods. The campaign was set to include outreach to restaurants and distribution of multilingual digital menus to 400 eateries.
