s the AI industry works on what comes next after chatbots, several startups are targeting audio AI as the new frontier.
At CES, dozens of companies are showing off apps and gadgets that listen to their users a lot more closely. Often built on the foundation of large language models like Gemini, ChatGPT and Claude, audio is emerging as one of the next major use cases for AI tools.
The applications of fine-tuned voice AI range far and wide:
- Accessibility tech was a major point of focus at the trade show on Sunday, with companies like Cearvol and Elehear debuting hearing aid technology that uses AI to cut through background noise.
- Subtle Computing, a startup that emerged from stealth in November, showed off its new “voicebuds,” which feature fine-tuned “high-performance voice isolation models” for dictation in loud or quiet environments, co-founder Savannah Cofer Chen told The Deep View.
- And if in-ear tech isn’t your thing, Gyges Labs displayed Vocci, a note-taking AI ring that can understand 112 languages and uses an agent to summarize transcriptions, with an understanding of “implicit meaning and historical context,” chief scientist Siyuan Qi told me.
- Outside of personal devices, voice AI is also making its mark in enterprise spaces, with French startup Airudit using audio as a means of controlling robots hands-free in manufacturing and industrial spaces, showing off its capabilities at CES by making a small robotic dog sit and lie down with a few simple commands.
The timing looks right for audio AI to explode. Industry voices are starting to question how useful large language models are when used solely for chatbot capabilities. And as consumers start to examine exactly how AI fits into their lives, audio-based models provide an easy way in.
While some industry thought leaders are targeting humanoid robots, world models and physical AI as the next steps forward, audio applications like these are far easier to develop and deploy and might provide a stopgap while those systems mature.