Dive Brief:
- The National Weather Service needs to update its plan to implement AI language translation “by following key practices such as setting performance goals and identifying the resources it needs and strategies to address challenges,” a new report from the Government Accountability Office found.
- Federal, tribal, state and local authorities “may not have the funding, staff expertise, or other resources needed to create alerts in languages other than English,” the report states. “The need to provide alerts quickly during severe weather events compounds this challenge.”
- NWS contracted with a commercial vendor to automatically generate translations for selected weather products in 2022, but that contract lapsed last year. NWS reduced the scope of a revised contract signed in April 2025, as the annual contract amount decreased from about $1 million to $600,000, leaving NWS with “limited ability” to update and improve the translation program, the report states.
Dive Insight:
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced in 2023 that NWS forecasters had been working with commercial vendor Lilt to train AI software for weather, water and climate terminology in Spanish and Simplified Chinese through an effort funded by the House Appropriations Committee.
“By providing weather forecasts and warnings in multiple languages, NWS will improve community and individual readiness and resilience as climate change drives more extreme weather events,” NWS Director Ken Graham said in a statement at the time.
Using AI is less costly than employing human translators and allows NWS to quickly provide information in languages other than English during severe weather events, according to the GAO report. “Officials from two NWS regional offices said AI was the only approach that would allow NWS to provide translations of its weather products effectively in real time,” the report states.
Translating weather products and training AI language models requires significant time and effort, and work force reduction initiatives at NWS have presented a major challenge, the report states.
In March 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order designating English as the official language of the U.S., revoking former President Bill Clinton’s August 2000 executive order directing federal agencies to ensure meaningful access to programs and activities for people with limited English proficiency.
NWS did not request funds for its AI language translation project in fiscal year 2026 because it was awaiting guidance on implementing Trump’s executive order, according to the report. Even so, NWS has developed a plan to expand translation of its weather products.
“NWS faces some challenges with its project using AI to automatically translate some weather products into languages other than English,” the report states. “This experimental project could help reduce risks to public health and safety during extreme weather events.”
The plan “would benefit from updates and additional details,” according to GAO. NWS should establish and communicate measurable performance goals and document resource needs such as funding, workforce and IT, as well as internal and external factors that could affect its ability to achieve its goals and strategies, GAO recommends.
