Google yesterday announced the expansion of its conversational AI service Bard to include 40 new languages, and Swahili has become the first African language to be included.

The expansion includes new features that allow users to customise their experience, and boost their creativity, says the company.

Google says Bard is now available in most of the world, including countries in the European Union, Africa and in the most widely spoken languages, including Swahili, Chinese, German, Spanish, Arabic, Hindi, and Spanish.

Swahili is among the 10 most widely spoken languages in the world, with more than 200 million speakers, according to UNESCO.

Google says the inclusion of more languages and Swahili is a watershed moment.

"The launch of Bard in Swahili is a major milestone as it allows Bard to reach even more people in Africa, where approximately 200 million people speak Swahili.

“This makes Bard more accessible to everyone in the region, and we believe that it has the potential to be a powerful tool for creativity and learning. We are excited to see how people in the region use Bard to explore their ideas and discover new things,” says Rachael Ndichu, language manager at Google.