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Brian Cook joined Kirkland-based WellSaid Labs a year ago as CEO. (GeekWire Photo / Todd Bishop)
A new AI model from WellSaid Labs will let users guide the emotions, pitch, and pace of AI-generated voice clips in the same way as a human director would coach a voice actor to produce a desired result.
The Kirkland, Wash.-based company announced the new model, dubbed Caruso, Wednesday morning in advance of its upcoming launch. Other features include faster audio rendering and improved pronunciation.
The idea is to generate AI voices that “say it right the first time, drastically reducing the time and effort that goes into re-rendering audio clips,” said Brian Cook, the company’s CEO, in a post announcing the new model.
Originally spun out of Seattle’s AI2 Incubator, WellSaid raised a $10 million Series A round in 2021 led by Fuse. The company focuses on the enterprise AI voice market, with practices and policies designed to encourage safe and ethical AI usage, seeking to distinguish itself in the AI voice market.
Cook, the former CEO of Nintex and founder of Incredible Capital, joined WellSaid as CEO a year ago. Matt Hocking is the company’s co-founder and executive chairman.
