Alongside bolstering its AI research talent pool, Meta seems to be keen to flesh out its consumer-facing AI features. The company is in discussions to acquire a voice cloning startup called Play AI, Bloomberg reported, citing anonymous sources.
The tech giant aims to buy the startup’s tech and bring on board some of its staff, the report said.
Play AI lets anyone clone different kinds of voices that they can use for AI-powered use cases, such as customer service, per its website. The startup has raised $23.5 million in total, and its investors include 500 Startups, Kindred Ventures, Race Capital, 500 Global and Soma Capital, per Crunchbase.
Meta currently lets creators on its social platforms build their own chatbots, and has added video editing capabilities to its Meta AI chatbot. Acquiring a voice startup would let the company bake in audio features into its creative suite.
Meta declined to comment on the story. Play AI did not immediately return a request for comment.
Source: Meta in talks to acquire voice cloning startup Play AI
