New Nonprofit Translates AI Safety Warnings Into Other Languages

A new nonprofit called Babel Translation launched this week with a simple goal: make English-language writing about AI safety readable around the world. It's starting with three languages — Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, and Japanese — and plans to add more. The founders, Jasmine Li and Celeste, say AI is moving fast and its risks are felt everywhere, but most of the discussion about those risks happens only in English. That leaves a huge share of the world locked out of the conversation.

Why should you care? Because AI rules, warnings, and safety standards only work if people understand them. Imagine if seatbelt safety research were published in just one language — most drivers would never hear about it. The same logic applies here. When a government, company, or scientist publishes something important about AI, Babel wants a high-quality translation ready quickly, without losing the meaning or nuance. The team already handled a Chinese translation of a report about a security incident involving METR, OpenAI, and HuggingFace.

The project is now hiring paid contractors who speak Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, or Japanese natively and understand AI safety. Anyone can also request a translation — essays, blog posts, draft standards, even video or podcast transcripts. The founders say they'll respond to every message and aim for fast turnaround with personal attention.

There's a real limitation: this is a small, volunteer-spirited effort, not a giant translation machine. Speed and coverage will depend on how many skilled translators they can hire, and AI content is published faster than any team can keep up with. Still, for non-English speakers trying to understand what AI means for their jobs, safety, and future, having trusted translations in their own language is a meaningful first step.