YouTube is developing an AI voice-cloning tool that lets creators mimic famous musicians while recording audio, according to Bloomberg. The streaming giant is currently in talks with major record labels to license their music catalogs for AI training. Why it matters: Following a wave of viral AI deepfakes, YouTube is trying to legitimize voice cloning into an officially licensed creator tool—if record labels agree to sign on.
NYC Mayor Eric Adams just revealed his office has been using AI to clone his voice for automated robocalls in languages he doesn't actually speak, including Spanish, Mandarin, and Cantonese. Critics are slamming the undisclosed deepfakes as deeply unethical and Orwellian, though Adams dismissed the pushback, arguing it's just a practical way to reach non-English-speaking residents.
Descript just launched Underlord, an agentic AI video and podcast co-editor designed to take tedious editing off your hands. It can analyze your script and video, center speakers, add captions, and clean up retakes from plain prompts. Why it matters: You can now direct an AI like a human collaborator instead of manually slicing timelines.
ElevenLabs just teamed up with video generation platform Pictory AI to bring its realistic voice synthesis to automated video editing. Creators can now turn text scripts and blog posts into videos with human-sounding narration, initially focusing on English and German content.
ElevenLabs just rolled out AI Dubbing, a voice translation tool that converts speech into over 20 languages in minutes while keeping the original speaker's exact voice, emotion, and tone. It also automatically distinguishes multiple speakers and filters out background noise.
Apple just released macOS Sonoma as a free software update for Mac users worldwide. Beyond interactive desktop widgets and video conferencing overlays, the update brings an on-device Transformer language model to overhaul autocorrect and inline sentence predictions. It basically means speech dictation and typing on Mac get a smart, private machine learning boost directly on silicon.
Spotify just teamed up with OpenAI to test a voice translation tool that translates podcasts into other languages using the creator's actual cloned voice. Powered by Whisper and OpenAI’s new speech synthesis tech, the pilot is rolling out Spanish versions of select English shows, with French and German coming next. Why it matters: It replaces awkward third-party dubs with the creator’s real voice, though safety concerns mean Spotify is keeping access tightly limited for now.
OpenAI just added voice conversations and image analysis to ChatGPT. Users can now snap photos to troubleshoot broken grills or plan dinner recipes, and chat back and forth using five realistic synthetic voices. The multimodal upgrade rolls out to Plus and Enterprise users over the next two weeks.
YouTube just announced new AI features for creators, including a smart music concierge and built-in automated dubbing. Creators will soon be able to type video descriptions into Creator Music to surface the right tracks within budget, while its Aloud integration inside YouTube Studio will generate multilingual voice tracks with one click.
Amazon just announced a generative AI upgrade for Fire TV voice search alongside new streaming sticks. Users can now skip rigid commands and ask Alexa open-ended queries like "action movies with car chases" or "comedies for a rainy day." The AI search rolls out in the U.S. later this year, making couch-side discovery feel like a real conversation.
Amazon just announced that Alexa is getting upgraded with a new generative AI model built specifically for voice on Echo devices. The update lets the assistant handle natural conversational pauses, express emotions like laughter or surprise, and interpret vague smart home requests like setting "spooky" lighting. U.S. Echo owners will soon get a free preview of the upgraded assistant.
Roblox just acquired Finnish voice tech startup Speechly to tackle toxic behavior in voice chat across its platform. Speechly builds AI tools for real-time speech moderation and transcription. The move will help Roblox protect users as it rolls out avatar-based voice calls, though financial terms remain undisclosed.
ElevenLabs just rolled out Projects to let creators turn manuscripts into full-cast audiobooks in minutes. You can upload an ePub, have AI automatically assign distinct voices to each character, and export across 90+ languages. It cuts months of studio recording down to an afternoon.
Apple just rolled out the iPhone 15 powered by the A17 Pro chip, intentionally sidestepping the generative AI hype. Instead of buzzy chatbots or AI image editors, Apple baked machine learning into everyday friction points—voice isolation for calls, automatic portrait depth capture, and synthetic voices for speech loss. Why it matters: Apple bets that invisible, reliable utility wins users faster than conversational parlor tricks.
Adobe just rolled out major AI and 3D updates across beta versions of Premiere Pro and After Effects. Premiere Pro gains Enhance Speech for one-click audio cleanup, automatic filler word removal, and a 5x faster timeline, while After Effects introduces an upgraded AI Roto Brush and native 3D workspace. Why it matters: It turns tedious rotoscoping and dialogue cleanup into quick background tasks. Features are in beta now and roll out broadly this fall.
Google just launched an AI-driven creative guidance tool in Google Ads for YouTube campaigns. The system automatically scans videos to check if logos appear in the first five seconds, flags suboptimal aspect ratios, and provides one-click AI voiceovers in 15 languages. Basically, it acts as an automated creative director to boost ad conversions across Shorts and feeds.
Ghostwriter, the anonymous creator behind the viral AI Drake track, just dropped a new song mimicking Travis Scott and 21 Savage while submitting his previous AI hit for Grammy consideration. Recording Academy leadership confirmed the track is creatively eligible because a human wrote it, though commercial distribution hurdles remain. The music industry can no longer dodge the AI voice controversy.
Activision just partnered with Modulate to bring real-time voice chat moderation to Call of Duty using an AI tool called ToxMod. Beyond standard transcription, the system analyzes tone, volume, and emotion to flag hate speech and harassment for human review. It is currently rolling out in North America, with a wider global release set for November.
Substack just rolled out a built-in AI transcription tool for podcasters. Creators can now generate clean text transcripts from their audio in roughly a minute, edit them in the dashboard, and publish them in a dedicated tab. Even better, you can highlight a favorite quote and turn it directly into an audiogram clip for social sharing.
DoorDash is developing an AI-powered voice ordering system to help restaurants handle phone orders without tying up staff. The move responds to internal data showing that while 20% of takeout diners prefer calling, half of those calls go unanswered. It includes multi-language support and live agent backup, though pricing and launch timing remain unannounced.
