Google DeepMind releases SL2T, the first sign language AI to enter consumer smartphones

Google DeepMind launched the multilingual sign language to text model SL2T, which is first integrated into the Pixel11 smartphone, bringing sign language AI into consumer electronics. The model is integrated with Gboard and Live Transcribe, allowing users to edit messages, perform web searches, and converse with Gemini by signing through the front camera, replacing keyboard input. SL2T is trained on more than 50 sign languages, using 100,000 hours of materials, with about a quarter coming from the American Sign Language dataset, and cross-language joint training enhances recognition performance.