DeepL achieves new breakthrough in AI translation quality

Cologne, Germany, February 6th, 2020

German start-up DeepL has released a new translation system that represents a quantum leap in translation quality. The artificial intelligence is far superior to all extant translation technologies and is free to use on www.DeepL.com.

The company made headlines as early as 2017, when it outshone the translation systems of all major high-tech companies with DeepL Translator. For the first time, the newly-designed neural networks were able to translate even longer passages without errors. As a result, the popularity of DeepL grew rapidly: More than half a billion people used its services in 2019.

Today, DeepL is releasing a new translation system based on its many advancements in artificial intelligence. All criteria that make a good translation have been improved by the new system. The meaning of translated sentences is more accurately conveyed in the target language, and, at the same time, the new system often finds more professional formulations.

DeepL's new translation system was also scientifically evaluated in blind tests: 119 lengthy passages from different domains were translated with DeepL Translator and competing systems, such as Google Translate or Microsoft Translator. Professional translators then evaluated these translations and selected the best one - without being informed which system had produced which translation. The translators selected DeepL's translations four times more often than those of any other system.

DeepL has demonstrated once again that European companies can not only keep up with the world leaders in the field of Deep Learning, but can also set new standards. "We assume that companies such as Google or Microsoft also have very good data for training neural translation networks," says DeepL founder and CEO Jaroslaw Kutylowski. "On the other hand, we have achieved many innovations in the mathematics and methodology of neural networks. It is, of course, a special moment for the whole team now that these improvements can be used by billions of people."

DeepL's vision is to break down language barriers worldwide and bring cultures closer together. To achieve this, the company is planning to add many more languages and, in the coming months and years, wants to integrate translation technology wherever people communicate, interact, or do business with each other. This vision also motivates many AI researchers and developers to join DeepL; the number of employees more than doubled in 2019 to 60, and Kutylowski is expecting a further doubling in 2020: "Highly-qualified applicants are naturally always welcome here."

About DeepL

DeepL is a German company that has set itself the goal of eliminating language barriers worldwide through the use of artificial intelligence. Since 2017, it has provided DeepL Translator, a machine translation system that, according to blind tests, achieves the world's best translation quality, on www.DeepL.com. It also provides professional products for companies, organizations, and translators. 

The exceptional quality of DeepL's machine translation services is based on proprietary improvements that the team has achieved in neural network mathematics and methodology.

The company is led by CEO and founder Jaroslaw Kutylowski and supported by world-renowned investors such as Benchmark and b2venture.