Le Monde launches English edition with AI translation

One of France’s leading newspapers, Le Monde, launched its first English-language digital edition on Thursday with articles translated in part by artificial intelligence.

The paper said it would start releasing a large range of English-language content as part of a mission to double its subscriber base to one million by 2025.

The articles will be primarily translations of its French articles done “by international agencies, with the help of an artificial intelligence tool,” though editing would be in the hands of English-speaking journalists.

“The challenge is an ambitious one: to carve out a place for Le Monde in an English-speaking world where there is no shortage of quality media,” the paper said in a statement.

A selection of the articles will be free, but most will be behind a paywall, in keeping with the French edition’s model.

The paper had considered launching an English edition several years ago, it said, but instead opted to deepen its reach in the French-speaking world, launching Le Monde Afrique in 2015.