内容来源：https://blog.google/around-the-globe/google-africa/africas-ai-future/

内容总结：

谷歌加码非洲AI基础设施建设与人才培养，助力青年把握数字机遇

面对全球最庞大的青年人口群体（预计到2050年将超过8.3亿），非洲大陆在人工智能浪潮中既面临重大机遇，也亟需应对数字化变革的挑战。谷歌近日宣布多项战略性投资，从基础设施、技术工具与人才培养三大维度深度支持非洲人工智能生态发展。

在基础设施领域，谷歌宣布在非洲四大区域建设海底电缆枢纽，构建非洲内部及与全球互联的数字走廊。此举是其10亿美元数字化承诺的深化——目前投资额已超额完成，成功助推1亿非洲民众首次接入互联网。其中Equiano海缆项目预计今年为尼日利亚、南非和纳米比亚分别带来111亿、58亿和2.9亿美元的实际GDP增长。同时，谷歌云约翰内斯堡区域正为全非用户提供服务，UMOJA光纤线路更首次实现非洲与澳大利亚直连。

为赋能青年创新，谷歌向埃及、加纳等八国大学生免费提供Gemini AI高级版年费会员。该工具配备深度研究功能与学习伴侣模式，可辅助完成学术研究、编程创作等任务。数据显示，谷歌已为700万非洲民众提供AI技能培训，并计划在2030年前再培训300万人。此外，过去四年已向非洲高校及研究机构投入超1700万美元资金与技术资源，2025年还将追加900万美元。

在语言本土化方面，谷歌翻译新增110种语言（含30多种非洲语言），明年将扩展至50种非洲语言的语音数据集开放工作。其驻肯尼亚和加纳的AI研究团队正开展洪水预警、农作物抗逆性等前沿研究，目标在2030年前让5亿非洲人受益于AI驱动的社会解决方案。

谷歌强调，消除数字鸿沟是实现人工智能普惠的关键。通过持续投入连接能力、技术产品与人才培养三大支柱，该公司致力于推动非洲主导的创新变革，确保AI技术真正造福每个非洲社区。

中文翻译：

我们正为非洲的人工智能未来投入连接能力、产品与技术培训
非洲拥有全球最庞大的年轻人口（预计到2050年将增长至8.3亿以上），人工智能技术的飞速发展既带来重大机遇，也敲响了行动的警钟。
我早年在津巴布韦攻读工程学时便开启了终身学习之旅。通过神经网络研究项目，我意识到人工智能的巨大潜力以及普惠于民的必要性。
谷歌坚信，获取人工智能技术——不仅需要连接能力和产品，更需要使用技能的培训——对于释放非洲年轻一代的机遇与创新力至关重要。人工智能是谷歌实现"让信息普惠全球"使命的核心方式，也是我们变革知识传播与学习模式的引擎。借助这项技术，我们有望从源头推动技术民主化，避免数字鸿沟演变为人工智能鸿沟，真正让技术惠及每个人。

连接能力正在释放非洲的数字潜力
自2006年投资Seacom海底光缆起，谷歌持续数十年支持非洲网络建设。2021年我们承诺五年内投入10亿美元推进此目标，现已超额完成投资，累计金额超10亿美元。这些投入为非洲构建了可靠、韧性与安全的基础设施，为人工智能应用奠定基础。
今日我们迎来非洲数字未来的新里程碑：谷歌宣布在非洲四大区域（北非、南非、东非、西非）建立海底光缆枢纽。这项投资将构建非洲内部及非洲与全球的新数字通道，增强国际连接韧性，激发经济增长与机遇。
这是我们"非洲连接"基础设施计划的最新进展。我们正建设贯穿大陆的关键连接节点，包括服务全非用户的约翰内斯堡谷歌云区域、沿西非海岸延伸的Equiano光缆，以及首条直连非洲与澳大利亚的Umoja光纤路线（经肯尼亚、乌干达、卢旺达、刚果民主共和国、赞比亚、津巴布韦和南非）。
迄今我们的投资已让1亿非洲人首次接入互联网，仅Equiano光缆就预计为尼日利亚、南非和纳米比亚今年分别带来111亿、58亿和2.9亿美元的实际GDP增长。我们还在谷歌分布式云上开放Gemini服务，让更多创业者、企业、政府和开发者能在全球各地安全可靠地使用先进AI模型。

谷歌人工智能加速青年主导的创新与学习
赋能非洲年轻人学习、创新与领导力对大陆发展至关重要。因此我们向非洲多国18岁以上大学生免费提供谷歌Gemini AI Pro年度订阅服务，首批覆盖埃及、加纳、肯尼亚、摩洛哥、尼日利亚、卢旺达、南非和津巴布韦。
通过深度研究功能，学生可快速生成定制化研究报告，整合数百个网站的专业信息。扩展版Gemini 2.5 Pro能协助完成作业与写作，并提供全套专业工具，包括全新学习伴侣模式"引导式学习"。
通过提供研究、解题、编程与内容创作的高级AI工具，我们直接助力青年应对非洲大陆的特有挑战，把握发展机遇，从而推动经济增长与社会进步。

构建技能与解决方案
人工智能技能培训至关重要。我们已为700万非洲人提供培训，并计划到2030年再培训300万学生、青年和教师。过去四年间，谷歌向非洲高校及研究机构提供超过1700万美元资金支持，涵盖课程开发、培训、算力及AI模型访问，明年还将追加900万美元投入。
非洲青年长期面临语言壁垒，难以获取本土语言的知识、工具与产品。去年我们在谷歌翻译新增110种语言（含30多种非洲语言），在此基础上正扩展40多种非洲语言的开放数据集、评估体系与语音模型，计划明年覆盖超50种语言并发布24个开放语音数据集。
谷歌在肯尼亚和加纳的AI研究团队已展现助力非洲创新的力量。这些团队与当地伙伴共同开展前沿研究，包括洪水预警预报、开放建筑数据、作物抗逆性提升和农民支持等项目，成果惠及非洲乃至全球。我们的目标是在2030年前通过AI技术创新帮助5亿非洲人应对社会挑战。

非洲创新的未来
人工智能创造着普惠全民的历史机遇，谷歌致力于让非洲民众、企业与社区共享其益。今日公布的举措再次表明，我们将持续拓展非洲连接能力、提升产品普及率与技能培训水平，推动非洲主导的创新实践——而这仅仅是一个开始。

英文来源：

We’re investing in connectivity, products and skills for Africa’s AI future
For Africa, home to the world’s largest youth population (slated to double to more than 830 million by 2050), the rapidly expanding capabilities of AI present both a significant opportunity and an urgent call to action.
I began a lifelong journey of learning as a young engineering student in Zimbabwe. Through a research project on neural networks, I became aware of AI's profound potential, and the need for it to benefit everyone.
At Google, we believe that access to AI — which requires not only connectivity and products, but the training to use it — is essential for unlocking opportunities and expanding the innovation capacity of young Africans. AI is how Google delivers on our mission to make information universally accessible and useful, and how we will transform knowledge and learning. With AI, collectively we have the chance to democratize access from the start, ensuring that the digital divide doesn’t become an AI divide, making it helpful for everyone.
Connectivity is unlocking Africa’s digital potential
For decades, Google has supported African internet connectivity, beginning with our 2006 investment in the Seacom cable. In 2021, Google pledged $1 billion over five years to further this mission. We’ve exceeded that commitment early, investing more than $1 billion which has contributed to the development of reliable, resilient, and secure infrastructure essential for Africans to harness the power of AI.
Today marks another milestone in our commitment to Africa's digital future. Google is announcing four strategic subsea cable connectivity hubs in the north, south, east and west regions of Africa. This investment creates new digital corridors within Africa and between Africa and the rest of the world — ultimately deepening international connectivity and resilience, as well as spurring economic growth and opportunity.
This is the latest addition to our Africa Connect infrastructure program. We’re building vital connectivity across the continent, including the Google Cloud region in Johannesburg serving users across the continent, the Equiano cable running along the entire western seaboard of the continent, and Umoja, the first fiber optic route to directly connect Africa with Australia (running through Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa).
Our investments to date have enabled 100 million Africans to access the internet for the first time, and the Equiano cable alone is expected to increase real GDP this year in Nigeria, South Africa and Namibia by an estimated $11.1 billion, $5.8 billion and $290 million, respectively. We’ve also made Gemini available on Google Distributed Cloud, so more entrepreneurs, businesses, governments and developers can use our advanced AI models from anywhere with enhanced security, reliability and resilience.
Google’s AI can accelerate youth-led learning and innovation
Enabling Africa’s young people to learn, innovate and lead is critical to Africa's development and economic growth. That’s why we’re getting advanced AI into the hands of college students (aged 18 or older) in countries across the continent — starting with Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa and Zimbabwe — by offering them a free one-year subscription to our Google Gemini AI Pro plan.
With Deep Research, students can save time with custom research reports, providing in-depth information from hundreds of sites across the web. With expanded access to Gemini 2.5 Pro, students can get help with homework or writing and access the full suite of Pro tools, including Guided Learning in Gemini, a new mode that acts as a learning companion.
By providing students with advanced AI tools for research, problem-solving, coding and content creation, we're directly empowering them to address challenges and pursue opportunities specific to the continent, thereby contributing to economic growth and societal progress.
Helping to build skills and solutions
Equipping people with AI skills is critical. To date, we've trained 7 million Africans and plan to train an additional 3 million students, young people, and teachers by 2030. Google is also bolstering local capacity by providing African universities and research institutions with over $17 million in funding, curriculum, training, compute and access to advanced AI models over the past four years, with an additional $9 million planned for the coming year.
Young people have faced barriers accessing knowledge and information, as well as tools and products in African languages, limiting their ability to benefit from them. Last year, we added 110 new languages to Google Translate, including more than 30 African languages. Building on that, we're expanding open datasets, evaluations and voice models for more than 40 African languages, with plans to reach more than 50 languages and publish 24 open speech datasets next year.
We've seen the power of enabling research and innovation in Africa with the pioneering work of our AI research teams in Kenya and Ghana. Together with local partners, these Google teams are leading cutting-edge research to benefit Africa and the world, such as advanced flood forecasting, Open Buildings data, strengthening crop resilience, and support for farmers. We aim to reach 500 million Africans with our AI-powered innovations that help tackle societal challenges by 2030.
The future of African innovation
AI creates an unprecedented opportunity to benefit everyone, and Google is committed to making that a reality for people, businesses and communities across Africa. Today's announcements are another example of how Google is continuing to expand connectivity, increase product access and skills across the continent and enabling African-led innovation — and we won’t stop here.