(TibetanReview.net, Oct08’26) – China held a seminar on Sep 5 in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, to discuss issues such as improving Tibetan artificial intelligence (AI) technologies and expanding the application of its Tibetan large language model (LLM) into multilingual simultaneous interpretation. And the creators of China’s first Tibetan-language AI mode, DeepZang, have pledged to speed up upgrades aimed at promoting ethnic integration, reported the scmp.com Oct 7, citing the state-run portal Chinanews.com.
Tenzin Norbu, founder of CHOKNOR, which developed DeepZang, has said his research team will continue to upgrade Tibetan-language AI and expand its applications, using technology to support interethnic exchanges and promote digital and intelligent development in ethnic minority regions.
DeepZang was launched in March, roughly three years after the unveiling of Monlam AI, a Tibetan-language LLM developed by Monlam Tibetan IT Research Centre, a non-profit organisation based in Dharamsala – the Indian hillside town that has hosted the 14th Dalai Lama and the Tibetan administration-in-exile since 1960.
The report noted that Tibet remained a top priority in ethnic and religious affairs for Beijing, which has consistently bolstered domestic Tibetan studies to regain control of international discourse on the issue. DeepZang is part of this broader effort to reshape global narratives around Tibet with its own authoritative data and technology.
These efforts are also stated to be reflected in Beijing’s push since 2023 to use the romanised Pinyin name “Xizang” instead of “Tibet” in English articles, projecting its sovereign narrative globally.
The legal basis for all this is the Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress, which lays the legal foundation for assimilating minority groups and took effect on Jul 1, 2026.
DeepZang has been trained on nearly 70 million Tibetan texts and over 30,500 hours of audio covering the language’s three main dialects. It powers AI chat, real-time translation and speech-to-text features across Tibetan, Chinese and English.
The seminar was also stated to have outlined future plans to integrate DeepZang into sectors including public services, education, healthcare and local governance, while “empowering the digital transmission of fine traditional Tibetan culture and ensuring that all ethnic groups equitably share the benefits of technological progress”.
Since its launch, DeepZang has advanced Tibetan-language AI through improvements in multi-dialect adaptation, semantic recognition and offline applications. It has helped the technology evolve from being “basically usable” to more accurate and user-friendly, filling several technological gaps in the industry and helping improve China’s technological framework for AI in ethnic minority languages, noted China’s Party mouthpiece globaltimes.cn Oct 7.