Welcome to the LOCANUCU blog, your daily source for localization news you can actually use. In today's roundup for November 10, 2025, we're covering major moves in AI strategy with DeepL's CEO joining a government task force, a landmark ruling on ASL access in the White House, and a deep dive into the new AI tools and community efforts shaping our industry.
- Translated highlights the shift from prompt engineering to 'context engineering' for enterprise-grade AI translation to reduce Time to Edit (TTE).
- An Ad Astra analysis identifies Japanese, Arabic, Mandarin, and German as top high-paying languages for freelance linguists in 2026.
- A US federal judge has ordered the White House to reinstate real-time American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation for press briefings, a victory for the National Association of the Deaf.
- DeepL CEO Jarek Kutylowski was appointed to the German Federal Chancellor's Strategy Group for Technology and Innovation.
- Francesca Sorrentino of Phrase argues that community connection, like Loc Leaders, is essential for the future of localization.
- InText has launched Hera AI, a new context-aware tool for automated post-editing (APE), LQA, and QE that works with bilingual files.
- Industry analysis calls for global events to use AI speech translation and captioning to achieve true multilingual inclusion.
- The importance of localization community is emphasized as professionals' responsibilities broaden.
- A review of ChatGPT's translation capabilities shows it struggles with slang, technical jargon, and dialects, requiring human oversight.
- The American Translators Association (ATA) has released Language Access Cards to help LEP individuals request interpretation services.
- The International Translation Forum, organized by Saudi Arabia's Literature, Publishing and Translation Commission, has concluded in Riyadh.
- The low cost of AI book translation tools is challenging the traditional publishing model, which involves high-cost translation rights.
- Persivia launches a National Health Intelligence Initiative in Saudi Arabia to support Vision 2030 healthcare goals with AI.
- Translastars shared a post discussing the roles of professional translators and interpreters.
- Diego Cresceri, CEO of Creative Words, shared insights from recent industry conversations.
- Andres Romero Arcas reported on teaching activities in the second edition of the UGR-LINGO program.
- Bruno Bitter noted an increase in attendance at tech partner events.
- LinkedIn discussions highlight the growing importance of tech partnerships in the industry.
- Vincent Liu discussed the impact of generative AI on translation technology and language services.
- Chris Dell mentioned the penultimate event in an ongoing series of industry talks.
- Yota Georgakopoulou shared insights on quality and audience engagement from the TEF conference.
- Jochen Hummel posted about developments related to tekom 2025.
- The industry is exploring a shift from traditional sequential localization to direct, AI-driven content generation.
- A petition is active to prevent the University of Nottingham from suspending its modern languages courses.
- Stefan Huyghe posted about the topic of parity between Arabic and English language models.
- Madalina Gavrila-Milliot shared takeaways from the TEF conference.
- Stefan Huyghe commented on his departure from Saudi Arabia, likely following the translation forum.
- Charles Campbell also posted about attending the International Translation Forum in Riyadh.
The intersection of artificial intelligence and national strategy is in focus today, as Jarek Kutylowski, the CEO of DeepL, has been appointed to the German Federal Chancellor's Strategy Group for Technology and Innovation. Kutylowski noted that AI's potential productivity gains are expected to surpass previous waves like the internet and cloud computing, emphasizing the need for Germany to secure a global leadership role in this area.
This high-level strategy is mirrored in the practical application of AI tools. Translated has been highlighting the importance of moving from simple "prompt engineering" to "context engineering" for AI translation. This approach involves providing rich, structured context, such as brand voice and domain-specific terminology, to the AI. Translated suggests this method, along with few-shot prompting, is essential for enterprise-grade solutions and measurably reduces the Time to Edit, or TTE, for human translators.
On the tool front, InText has introduced Hera AI, a new tool for automated post-editing, linguistic quality assurance, and quality estimation that specifically accounts for context. Hera AI works directly with bilingual files from major CAT tools and uses reference materials like translation memories and glossaries to improve MT output, with early results suggesting a significant increase in post-editing productivity.
However, the reliance on AI is not without its challenges. The limitations of tools like ChatGPT for translation are being examined, noting that while it performs well with high-resource language pairs, it often struggles with regional slang, technical jargon, and dialect variations. This reinforces the idea that human oversight remains critical, especially for mission-critical content. The discussion also notes that the cost of AI-powered book translation is challenging the traditional publishing model, where translation rights can exceed 10,000 dollars, allowing readers to bypass high fees and long waits, albeit with potential trade-offs in nuance.
In the United States, a significant development in language access has occurred. A federal judge has ordered the White House to immediately reinstate real-time American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation for all press briefings. The ruling came in a lawsuit filed by the National Association of the Deaf (NAD), which argued that English-based captions are insufficient for ASL users, as ASL is a distinct language. The administration has filed an appeal.
In a related effort to improve access, the American Translators Association's (ATA) Public Relations Committee has unveiled new Language Access Cards. These cards are designed for limited-English-proficient (LEP) individuals to carry. They state the holder's request for an interpreter in their language and direct providers to the ATA's online Language Services Directory.
Shifting to industry trends and education, an analysis from Ad Astra identifies the top-paying languages for freelance linguists heading into 2026. These include Japanese, Arabic (particularly for cleared government work), Mandarin, and German, driven by demand in technology, engineering, finance, and legal sectors. Conversely, in the United Kingdom, a petition is circulating to stop the University of Nottingham from suspending its modern languages and music courses, citing declining student applications and financial pressures.
The importance of community and real-time multilingual capabilities was a major theme at recent events. The International Translation Forum, organized by the Literature, Publishing and Translation Commission, concluded in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The event featured over 70 local and international experts and 17 workshops, including a notable panel on the Saudi-Chinese experience in cultural translation. Charles Campbell and Stefan Huyghe were among the industry figures discussing the event.
Connecting to this, Francesca Sorrentino of Phrase argues that the future of localization depends on community. As localization professionals take on broader responsibilities, the need for shared experience and connection, such as that found in the Loc Leaders community, becomes essential.
This need for connection extends to global events. A recent analysis urges companies to move beyond single-language presentations to make events truly inclusive. AI-powered speech translation and multilingual captioning are presented as practical, scalable solutions to ensure all attendees can participate in real-time. This was a topic of discussion for professionals like Yota Georgakopoulou and Madalina Gavrila-Milliot regarding the TEF conference, and Jochen Hummel in relation to tekom 2025.
In healthcare, Persivia announced the launch of its National Health Intelligence Initiative in Saudi Arabia. Unveiled at the Global Health Exhibition, the initiative will use AI and advanced data analytics to support the healthcare goals of Saudi Vision 2030, emphasizing technology transfer and localization.
Finally, industry professionals continue to share insights. Andres Romero Arcas discussed teaching in the second edition of the UGR-LINGO program, and Vincent Liu highlighted advancements in generative AI for language services.
That's all the news we have for today. From high-level AI policy and new tools to crucial language access victories and community discussions, the localization landscape continues to evolve rapidly. Stay informed with LOCANUCU to keep up.