Latest news with #AICharacters
Hans India
19 hours ago
- Business
- Hans India
Mark Zuckerberg's AI Push Accelerates as Meta Acquires Voice Startup PlayAI
Meta's aggressive push in artificial intelligence continues, with the company acquiring a voice technology startup named PlayAI. This acquisition underscores CEO Mark Zuckerberg's vision to transform Meta into a global leader in AI innovation. The PlayAI team is set to join Meta's growing AI division next week, according to an internal memo cited by Bloomberg. The startup specializes in voice cloning and voice generation, offering tools that create natural-sounding, AI-generated speech. This technology will now support a variety of Meta's projects, including AI assistants, content creation tools, and next-generation wearables. PlayAI's employees will report to Johan Schalkwyk, a recent addition to Meta's leadership who previously worked at Sesame AI, another company focused on voice technologies. Under his guidance, the PlayAI team will contribute to Meta AI initiatives such as AI Characters and audio innovation for both user and creator platforms. While the financial terms of the deal remain undisclosed, Meta has confirmed the acquisition. The company noted that PlayAI's core strengths in voice replication and platform development align with its strategy to integrate AI more deeply into user experiences across Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and its hardware products. This latest deal follows a string of major moves from Meta in the AI space. Just last month, Meta invested a staggering $14.3 billion in Scale AI, a company that specializes in training data for AI systems. Along with the investment, Meta brought Scale AI's CEO, Alexandr Wang, on board to head its newly formed Meta Superintelligence Labs. This division focuses on creating advanced AI systems that aim to go beyond current human capabilities. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has made it clear that artificial intelligence is Meta's top strategic priority for the year. Billions of dollars have already been funneled into building proprietary AI chips, expanding data centers, and developing powerful generative models. The acquisition of PlayAI may not match the scale of the Scale AI deal, but it represents a highly focused bet on voice technology—a rapidly growing area within AI. Voice-based features are expected to play a major role in how users interact with devices and services in the near future. From conversational assistants to voice-enabled content creation, the applications are broad and impactful. Meta has previously dabbled in language and voice-based AI tools, with experimental AI assistants being tested across platforms. This new acquisition points to a more serious and long-term commitment to voice-first AI interfaces. Despite the growing excitement, Meta hasn't released a concrete timeline for when users will begin to see PlayAI's tech integrated into its apps or devices. However, the company has made it clear that voice interaction will become a cornerstone of its AI-powered future. As the AI race intensifies among tech giants, Meta's recent moves indicate it's not just participating—it's aiming to lead. With both small and large acquisitions under its belt, Meta is steadily assembling the infrastructure and talent needed to push the boundaries of what AI can do.
India Today
20 hours ago
- Business
- India Today
Mark Zuckerberg's AI shopping spree continues, Meta buys voice startup PlayAI: Story in 5 points
Meta, the company behind Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, has acquired a small AI startup called PlayAI as part of its growing efforts to lead the artificial intelligence race. PlayAI focuses on voice technology, and its team will officially become part of Meta next week, according to an internal memo reviewed by Bloomberg. Here is the full story in 5 Zuckerberg's AI shopping spree continues, Meta buys voice startup PlayAI: Story in 5 points-Meta has purchased a new voice-cloning startup called PlayAI. This move highlights Meta's ongoing expansion into different areas of AI. The PlayAI team is expected to work on several voice-related projects, including AI Characters, Meta AI, audio tools, and wearables. Their expertise in building natural-sounding voices and platforms for voice creation fits into Meta's larger roadmap to bring more AI-based features across its products. While Meta has confirmed the acquisition, it has not revealed how much it paid for PlayAI. The startup's team will now report to Johan Schalkwyk, a recent Meta recruit who earlier worked at another voice-focused company, Sesame AI.-This deal is the latest in a series of bold steps taken by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who has declared AI as the company's top priority this year. Meta has already poured billions into building AI infrastructure like chips, data centres, and advanced models. In fact, just last month, the company reportedly invested $14.3 billion in another AI firm, Scale AI. Along with that, Meta hired Scale AI's CEO, Alexandr Wang, to lead its new division called Meta Superintelligence Labs. -The new lab is part of Zuckerberg's larger vision to develop AI systems that are even more advanced than human intelligence. By bringing companies like PlayAI and Scale AI under its umbrella, Meta is trying to speed up this mission.-PlayAI may be a smaller startup, but its work in voice AI is valuable. Meta plans to use this technology in many ways—whether it's to improve AI assistants, make its wearable devices smarter, or offer new voice tools for creators and users. As AI becomes more central to how people interact with technology, voice-based features are likely to play a bigger role.-This isn't the first time Meta has shown interest in voice or language-based AI. The company has been testing and rolling out AI assistants across its platforms, and this acquisition suggests more such tools are on the way. So far, Meta has not shared detailed plans about how or when users will start seeing the impact of the PlayAI deal.- Ends
Mint
2 days ago
- Business
- Mint
Meta acquires voice cloning startup Play AI to strengthen speech capabilities
nMeta has acquired California-based voice AI startup Play AI, in a move aimed at bolstering its capabilities in generative voice technology, according to a new report by Bloomberg. The deal sees the entire Play AI team joining Meta next week, where they will begin working under Johan Schalkwyk, a former senior speech AI leader at Google and a recent Meta recruit. Play AI is best known for its advanced voice cloning tool, which allows users to replicate their own voices or generate new human-like voices. These can be deployed across digital platforms, including websites, mobile apps, and phones, a functionality that aligns closely with Meta's growing ambitions in AI-driven interaction. According to an internal memo viewed by Bloomberg, Meta sees Play AI's technology as a "great match" for its existing AI initiatives, including Meta AI, AI Characters, and its wearables division. The financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. This acquisition is the latest in Meta's aggressive recruitment and expansion efforts within the AI sector. The company recently launched a Superintelligence Lab, with a mission to build artificial intelligence systems smarter than humans. In June, Meta secured a $14.3 billion investment in Scale AI, a startup known for AI data labelling, and brought on Alexandr Wang, its CEO, to lead the new lab. Meta has been heavily investing in acquiring talent from rival companies. It has reportedly offered bonuses of up to $100 million to AI experts from OpenAI, Google DeepMind, and Apple. The company has already hired multiple engineers who worked on OpenAI's ChatGPT and GPT-4, as well as talent from the Google Gemini team. Notably, Apple's top AI executive working on advanced features also left for Meta earlier this year. With the integration of Play AI's voice technology, Meta appears to be doubling down on AI-generated voice as a core interface, both for future social experiences and its hardware roadmap, including possible use cases in AR/VR and smart glasses. As the AI arms race intensifies, Meta's latest move signals a strategic emphasis on speech and voice interfaces as the next frontier of human-computer interaction.
Engadget
3 days ago
- Business
- Engadget
Meta reportedly closes deal to buy AI voice replicator PlayAI
Meta has finalized the agreement to purchase Play AI, a startup based in California providing users with an AI voice cloning tool, according to Bloomberg . The news organization says the "entire PlayAI team" is joining Meta next week, based on the internal memo it has seen. After joining the company, the team will be working under Johan Schalkwyk, who used to oversee speech AI research for Google and who was also a recent hire from another voice AI startup. PlayAI's tool can clone a user's voice and can generate new human-like voices, which can be used on websites, apps and phones. Meta reportedly noted in its memo that the PlayAI team's work is a "great match" for its own work and roadmap across various products, including Meta AI, its AI Characters and its wearables. The company has confirmed the acquisition to Bloomberg , but it didn't reveal how much it paid for the deal. Mark Zuckerberg has been personally involved in building a team for the company's new AI Superintelligence lab over the past months with the aim of developing artificial intelligence smarter than humans. In June, Meta finalized a $14.3 billion investment in Scale AI in exchange for hiring its CEO, Alexandr Wang, who will serve as the new lab' head. Scale AI is a startup, which labels data that its clients can use for AI training. Meta has reportedly been offering $100 million bonuses to employees of rival companies to get them to jump ship. Reuters listed several employees it had poached from competitors so far, including the co-creators of OpenAI's ChatGPT and GPT-4 models, as well as people who worked on Google Gemini. Bloomberg also previously reported that Apple had lost its top AI executive in charge of developing its advanced AI features to Meta.
