Urgent.News

What's breaking now, across thousands of outlets.

AI

Deep Read: Die nächste Milliardenwette der KI-Firmen heißt Sprache

Hotlines waren nur der Anfang: KI übersetzt, spricht und synchronisiert. Nicht nur OpenAI und Google glauben, dass Sprechen das neue Tippen ist – auch ein europäischer Player profitiert davon.

Original German Read in English

Deep Read: Die nächste Milliardenwette der KI-Firmen heißt Sprache

The entrance area of Eleven Labs' London office is flanked by a jukebox, while a red British telephone booth sits nestled between desks. Those who might assume it's merely nostalgic decor are mistaken; music generated by AI emanates from the box. In a booth, prospective clients can test Eleven Labs' AI voices. The company's technology goes beyond answering customer service calls; it reads texts aloud, creates voices, translates conversations, and synchronizes videos.

Companies anticipate significant efficiency gains, improved customer contact, new products, and substantially reduced costs. According to exclusive Pitchbook data for the Handelsblatt, venture capitalists worldwide have invested over $20 billion in Voice AI companies since the beginning of the year. Investments in OpenAI are not included.

The bet of AI companies is that people find speaking more natural than typing their thoughts into a chat window. But can language replace text as the primary digital interface? And which European providers can benefit from the growing market?

Written by urgent.news from Handelsblatt's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.

Read the original at handelsblatt.com →

More in AI

More from Wednesday 12 August →