Meta acquires AI audio startup WaveForms

Meta has acquired the nascent AI voice startup WaveForms for an undisclosed sum, a move that significantly bolsters the tech giant's growing artificial intelligence division. The report, citing The Information, highlights Meta's strategic push to enhance its capabilities in AI audio technologies.

This acquisition follows closely on the heels of Meta's recent purchase of PlayAI, another significant player in the AI audio space, underscoring Meta's commitment to building out its Superintelligence Labs unit.

WaveForms, despite being founded just eight months prior to the acquisition, had already garnered substantial attention and investment. The startup successfully raised $40 million from Andreessen Horowitz in a funding round that valued the company at $160 million before the infusion of capital, according to PitchBook data.

Adding further weight to the strategic significance of the deal, two of WaveForms' co-founders are reportedly joining Meta. Alexis Conneau, a respected researcher formerly with both Meta and OpenAI, and Coralie Lemaitre, a former Google advertising strategist, are expected to bring their expertise to Meta's AI initiatives. Notably, Conneau played a key role at OpenAI, where he co-created the advanced GPT4-o Advanced Voice Mode neural networks.

TechCrunch has reached out to WaveForms for further details, including whether Chief Technologist Kartikay Khandelwal will also be joining Meta, and the specific outcome for the company's approximately 14 other staffers, as per their LinkedIn profiles. The original reporting noted a correction regarding Khandelwal's role.

While WaveForms appears to have taken down its own website, its mission, as described on its LinkedIn page, was ambitious: to solve the “Speech Turing Test.” This challenge aims to determine if a listener can reliably distinguish between human-generated speech and AI-generated audio. Additionally, WaveForms was reportedly developing “Emotional General Intelligence,” a project focused on understanding and managing individual self-awareness within AI systems.

This strategic acquisition positions Meta to potentially leapfrog competitors in the rapidly evolving field of AI-driven audio and voice technology.