Many developing economies cannot access large language models, most of which have been trained on datasets in English. The market dominance of these LLMs leaves developing countries with minority languages at a distinct disadvantage. Mobile network operators ( MNOs ) are uniquely positioned to create “local” language models, owing to their armies of developers and data-processing capabilities. Investment in local AI creates a virtuous circle for developing economies, generating a pool of tech talent that is critical to digital independence. That means collaborating with developers and MNOs to build minority language models that meet their society’s needs.