Google DeepMind Hires Hume AI CEO and Seven Engineers in $100M Emotional Voice Technology Deal
Summary
Google DeepMind acquires Hume AI's CEO Alan Cowen and seven engineers in a $100 million licensing deal to integrate emotional voice technology into its AI models, positioning the tech giant to compete directly with OpenAI's ChatGPT voice capabilities.
Key Points
- Google DeepMind hires Hume AI's CEO Alan Cowen and seven engineers as part of a major licensing deal to integrate emotional voice technology into its AI models
- Hume AI expects $100 million in revenue for 2026 while continuing to supply emotionally intelligent voice interface technology to other AI companies
- The deal positions Google to compete more aggressively with OpenAI's ChatGPT voice features and represents another talent acquisition that blurs the line between partnership and acquisition