#26 Biggest MT Survey, Interpreter Protest, Google Translate, M&A is Back

In a half-year anniversary episode, Florian and Esther unpack a wide-scale European Union survey of small and medium enterprises. Nearly 2,900 SMEs responded to questions about their language needs, MT use and attitudes of MT, as the EU rolls out an expansion program for their free automated translation platform, eTranslation.Florian ponders why a public body like the EU would be concerned with making MT available for use among private sector companies, and discusses a recent blog post from Google on the latest tweaks and techniques they’re applying to MT. The two talk about media localizer IYUNO’s acquisition of German dubbing and post-production studio Scalamedia, and highlight a possible language industry IPO reportedly being considered by Ai-Media in Australia. Florian shares his take on the diverging fortunes of language industry stakeholders amid the pandemic, as the gap widens between those who are suffering financially (e.g., the EU’s contract interpreters) and those who are seeing their businesses at all-time highs. Links to the stories discussedHuman or Machine Translation? Survey Reveals EU SME Preferences by Use Casehttps://slator.com/demand-drivers/human-or-machine-translation-survey-reveals-eu-sme-preferences-by-use-case/IYUNO Acquires German Dubbing Studio Scalamediahttps://slator.com/ma-and-funding/iyuno-acquires-german-dubbing-studio-scalamedia/Media Localizer Ai-Media Reported to Consider Sydney IPOhttps://slator.com/ma-and-funding/media-localizer-ai-media-reported-to-consider-sydney-ipo/Contract Interpreters Rally Over Lack of Support From EUhttps://slator.com/industry-news/contract-interpreters-rally-over-lack-of-support-from-the-eu/