Saheed Azeez has been on an unstoppable streak of innovation, and we’ve been keeping a close eye on his journey. His dedication to building cutting-edge AI solutions, particularly for underrepresented languages, has been nothing short of inspiring. Now, the latest milestone in the YarnGPT project is here, and it’s a big one.

Introducing YarnGPT2 and YarnGPT2b, the next evolution of his groundbreaking AI model. These aren’t just incremental upgrades, they represent a major leap forward. YarnGPT2 brings seamless integration of Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa, and English, ensuring that both native languages and accented English are understood with remarkable accuracy. Saheed didn’t stop there. With YarnGPT2b, he has introduced text-to-speech (TTS) and Speech to Text (ASR), making AI-driven language processing more dynamic than ever. While the TTS model is already impressive, ASR remains a work in progress and we know that Saheed will soon refine it to perfection.

What’s even more exciting is that YarnGPT now has a web interface! Built and hosted by Abayomi Olagunju, this new platform allows anyone to test the model, provide feedback, and see its real-world applications. The entire project remains open-source, allowing developers, linguists, and AI enthusiasts to contribute and build upon Saheed’s work.

As always, this project has been fueled by an incredible community of supporters, with Sodiq Agunbiade sponsoring the model training run. The impact of this work extends beyond research it’s about creating technology that truly understands and amplifies African voices.