Building AI for Africa's
Languages,
Knowledge, and Future
From Kinshasa, KoralyxAI develops responsible research infrastructure for artificial intelligence that serves African languages, communities, and scientific advancement.
Our Mission
Africa's knowledge must shape the future of AI.
African Languages
Research Areas
Global Impact
The Challenge
African Languages Are Nearly Invisible to AI
Of the world's 7,000+ languages, most AI systems know fewer than 100. African languages—spoken by nearly 1 billion people—are among the most underrepresented.
This isn't just a technical problem. It's an equity problem. When AI can't understand your language, your knowledge, your context—you're excluded from the future AI is building.
Underrepresentation
Most African languages have zero AI models, datasets, or research infrastructure.
Knowledge Loss
When AI is trained only on Western data, it misses African knowledge, context, and values.
Economic Exclusion
AI applications in education, health, and business can't serve communities that don't have language support.
Ethical Responsibility
Building AI without African perspectives perpetuates bias and excludes crucial viewpoints on responsible AI.
Our Approach
Research Infrastructure Built With, Not For, African Communities
Born in Kinshasa
Our research begins where real communities live, not where it's convenient for researchers. This grounds everything we build in authentic context.
Community-First Research
We partner with speakers, not just extract data. Community members are collaborators and decision-makers in our research, from question design through publication.
Open Infrastructure
Everything we build—datasets, models, tools, research—is released openly so African researchers can build on it and the whole world benefits.
Three Research Areas
🗣️ Language AI
Building datasets and models for African languages (Lingala, Kikongo, Tshiluba, Swahili).
📊 Social Sciences
Understanding how AI affects African societies and how social science perspectives improve AI.
📈 Risk Analytics
Developing AI for insurance and risk prediction in African contexts.
How We Work
The Research Pipeline
From community-driven questions to open science and real-world impact. Every stage is crucial to responsible AI research.
Research Question
Community Engagement
Data Collection
Model Development
Evaluation & Validation
Publication & Sharing
Open Science & Collaboration
Real-World Impact
1. Research Question
Identify challenges in African languages and communities that AI can address.
2-3. Community & Data
Engage communities and collect authentic, representative data from native speakers.
4-5. Development & Validation
Build and rigorously evaluate models to ensure they work for real-world contexts.
6-8. Publication & Impact
Share research openly, collaborate globally, and create lasting impact for communities.
Our Commitment
Every stage from research question through real-world impact involves communities from the beginning. Open science isn't an afterthought—it's central to our mission.
Where We Are
Kinshasa → Africa → World
KoralyxAI is based in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, where our research begins and our communities are rooted. This is not symbolic—it shapes every decision we make.
We're building research infrastructure for Central Africa first, with initial focus on five languages spoken across the region. This concentrated approach lets us do deep, grounded work before expanding.
Through open science, we share everything globally so researchers everywhere can build on our work, and so African knowledge shapes global AI development.
We're early in this mission. We're still building datasets, still training models, still learning from communities. But every project is public, and we're committed to transparency about what we've accomplished and what we're still learning.
Our Geographic Context
We measure impact not just by research quality, but by how well we serve the communities whose languages and knowledge power this work.
Who We Are
Researchers, Students, Communities, Partners
👨🔬 Researchers
AI experts, linguists, social scientists, and engineers working on research infrastructure for African languages.
🎓 Students
University students from the region learning research skills, contributing to real projects, building careers in AI.
🤝 Communities
Native speakers, local organizations, and community leaders shaping research questions and ensuring cultural accuracy.
Our team includes language experts from the DRC, AI researchers from African universities, computer scientists from around the world, and social scientists studying AI's impact on society. But it also includes the communities whose languages we study, the students learning research skills, and the organizations working with us to translate research into real-world applications.
What We Achieve
Research That Compounds
🗂️ Infrastructure
Datasets, benchmarks, and models that future researchers can build on. Once we publish a dataset for Lingala, every researcher in the world can use it.
📚 Knowledge
Published research showing what works for underrepresented languages, what doesn't, and why. This shapes how AI is built for languages everywhere.
👥 Careers
Student researchers who learn AI skills, publish research, and launch careers in AI research. We're training the next generation of AI researchers from Africa.
🌍 Global Shift
Every paper published, every model released, every community voice included shifts what "AI for everyone" actually means.
Join Us
Become a Student Researcher
If you're a university student interested in AI, language, or social sciences, we're building a community of researchers working on real problems that matter.
What You Get
- ✓Mentorship from experienced researchers
- ✓Hands-on experience building AI systems
- ✓Opportunity to publish research
- ✓Skills in datasets, models, and evaluation
What We Need
- ✓Curiosity about languages and AI
- ✓Willingness to learn new tools
- ✓Commitment to responsible, ethical research
- ✓Time to dedicate to real research
Get Involved
There Are Many Ways to Contribute
🎓 As a Student
Join our research program, learn AI skills, and publish real research while still in university.
Apply Now🤝 As a Partner
Partner with us on research, collaborate on projects, or help us reach communities.
Get in Touch📖 As a Researcher
Use our datasets, build on our models, cite our research. Everything we publish is open.
Explore ResearchQuestions? Contact us →