A veteran of OpenAI’s voice assistant project launched a new startup Waveforms AI that can transform audio-based AI interactions. Now, the company has raised $40 million in funding from Andreessen Horowitz (which recently backed Black Forest Labs and Valon), valuing the company at $200 million.
This investment highlights the confidence in the startup. It also illustrates the growing interest in AI voice technology and the potential for more lifelike human-to-machine interactions. The company plans to release its first products in 2025.
How was the idea born?
The company was founded by Alexi Conneau, a former OpenAI researcher, who led the development of ChatGPT’s Advanced Voice Mode; and Coralie Lemaitre, a distinguished leader in business and product strategy from Google.
Conneau’s inspiration comes partly from the movie Her and its portrayal of human-AI relationships. While the film influenced his cautious approach, he believes WaveForms AI can bring the best of voice AI without the pitfalls.
Future of audio intelligence
End-to-end audio language models brought us closer to the dream of seamless, human-like communication with AIs. Audio models are now capable of real-time, emotionally resonant, and immersive voice interactions. WaveForms AI was founded to take this vision much further and unlock the full potential of audio intelligence. The company aims to advance AI toward immersive experiences that inspire and connect.
What does Waveforms AI do?
With Emotional General Intelligence (EGI), it creates human-AI connections that feel natural, personal, and deeply engaging. It sets itself apart from other startups by focusing exclusively on AI voices that can understand and respond to emotional cues. It aims to create AI experiences very different from the traditional text-based interactions people have with ChatGPT and other chatbots. WaveForms AI wants to create digital assistants that can engage with their users in a more intuitive, natural, and dynamic way.
Its audio LLMs will be able to capture the emotional subtleties of human voices, understand what they imply in the context of the conversation, and then reply while conveying their own emotions in return.
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