Meta adds Hindi and Portuguese support for its AI translation feature for Reels

Meta is enhancing the Instagram experience by prioritizing Reels, especially in regions like India and South Korea. To broaden accessibility, the tech giant is introducing Hindi and Portuguese support for its AI-driven translation feature on both Instagram and Facebook. This addition comes after the initial rollout of translation capabilities in August, which included English and Spanish, following its announcement at the previous Meta Connect conference. The goal behind this update is to engage creators from Meta's largest markets, particularly India and Brazil, allowing them to reach international audiences. Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, emphasized the importance of connecting creators with potential followers who speak different languages. "By helping you reach audiences across cultural and linguistic divides, we aim to enhance your presence on Instagram," he stated in an August post. Users will be able to activate automatic translation in their preferred language, enabling them to enjoy Reels originally made in other languages. For creators, there's an option to enable automatic translation by selecting the “Translate your voice with Meta AI” feature prior to posting. They can also choose which languages to translate into after reviewing their videos, complete with automatic dubbing and lip sync adjustments. Meta is also actively developing new features for its AI translation tool, which are expected to launch soon. Currently, Reels on Facebook support multi-speaker AI translations, and this functionality will soon extend to Instagram creators. Besides voice translations, the company is working on translating text and caption stickers associated with Reels, allowing viewers to select the “Translate text on Reels” option when it becomes available. This feature is particularly beneficial for viewers watching videos without sound. Additionally, Meta plans to introduce a voice dubbing feature that maintains the creator's original voice and tone, along with a more refined lip-syncing option that aligns better with mouth movements. In contrast, YouTube has been enhancing its translation features over the past few years, most recently improving its auto-dubbing feature to support 20 languages.