Bard expands to Europe and Brazil, with limits that vary by feature

Google expanded Bard to Brazil and across Europe on 13 July 2023, bringing the chatbot to more than 40 languages. The release also introduced image prompts and Python export to Replit.

The expansion didn’t give every language the same tools. Image prompts and response-style controls launched in English. Google’s Arabic announcement drew a further distinction: Bard could understand questions in more than 16 Arabic dialects, but answered in Modern Standard Arabic.

Illustrative file photo: Google-branded display at the 2012 Democratic National Convention in North Carolina, photographed on 6 September 2012; not a photograph of the July 2023 Bard expansion. Photo: Anthony Quintano, “Google at the 2012 Democratic National Convention North Carolina”, CC BY 2.0. Resized and cropped.

Language support depends on the feature

Google’s global announcement named Arabic, Chinese, German, Hindi and Spanish among the supported languages. It said audio playback of answers, conversation pinning and renaming, shareable chat links and Replit export were available in more than 40 languages.

For Replit, that figure refers to spoken-language availability. The exported code was Python; Google wasn’t announcing support for 40 programming languages. Replit joined the existing Google Colab export option.

Two additions had narrower availability:

• Image prompts used Google Lens to help Bard interpret an uploaded picture, including for questions about its contents or caption suggestions. They launched in English.
• A dropdown offered five response styles: simple, long, short, professional and casual. It also launched in English.

Google said both features would reach more languages, without giving a date.

Arabic dialect input, standard Arabic output

The Google MENA announcement, also dated 13 July, explained what Arabic support meant beyond the global language count.

Google said Bard understood questions in more than 16 dialects, including Egyptian and Saudi colloquial Arabic, and replied in Modern Standard Arabic. It also accepted input mixing Arabic with another language, known as code-switching, and provided a right-to-left interface.

The claim concerned dialect comprehension, rather than replies matching each dialect. These were Google’s descriptions of the service, not findings from an independent language evaluation.

Related: Sulat’s May coverage of PaLM 2 and Bard.

EU launch leaves a review ahead

The European Union rollout followed a June delay over privacy questions. POLITICO reported on 13 July that Google had added transparency measures, user controls and a privacy hub.

Graham Doyle, deputy commissioner of Ireland’s Data Protection Commission, told POLITICO and TechCrunch that engagement would continue after launch. Google had agreed to carry out a review and provide a report to the regulator after three months of operation in the EU.

TechCrunch also reported a Google spokeswoman’s stated access requirements: users had to be at least 18 and have a Google Account. The geographic expansion still came with eligibility conditions, and the regulator’s follow-up remained ahead.