Meta has been busy expanding its AI toolkit by acquiring the emerging audio startup WaveForms. This move not only strengthens its Superintelligence Labs division but also follows closely on the heels of its recent purchase of PlayAI, signalling a focused push into audio AI.
Founded just eight months ago, WaveForms quickly made its mark by raising $40 million from Andreessen Horowitz, which valued the company at $160 million pre‐money. The startup’s bold approach has clearly resonated with investors, giving it a head start in the competitive AI space.
Joining Meta are two of WaveForms’ co-founders. Alexis Conneau, known for his work on GPT4-o Advanced Voice Mode neural networks during his time at Meta and OpenAI, adds significant technical heft to the deal. Meanwhile, Coralie Lemaitre, a former Google advertising strategist, brings valuable industry experience. Although TechCrunch is screening details about co-founder Kartikay Khandelwal and the rest of the 14-strong team, we’re still waiting for more specifics.
WaveForms was tackling challenges like the ‘Speech Turing Test’ — a method to differentiate between human and AI-generated speech — while also pioneering what’s being dubbed ‘Emotional General Intelligence.’ This approach aims to elevate self-awareness and emotional management, areas where many of us have felt current tech could do better.
Meta’s acquisition of WaveForms is a clear sign of its commitment to refining audio processing and emotional intelligence in AI. For anyone who’s ever wrestled with tech that just doesn’t capture the subtleties of human conversation, this could be a welcome step forward.
