ElevenLabs, a firm that creates artificial intelligence (AI) tools for editing and creating synthetic voices, is releasing its Reader app globally, supporting 32 languages.
The software allows users to upload any written content, such as articles, PDF documents, or e-books, and listen to it in a variety of languages and voices. It was first published in June in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. Languages including Portuguese, Spanish, French, Hindi, German, Japanese, Arabic, Korean, Italian, Tamil, and Swedish are now supported by Reader.
After receiving $80 million from investors, including Andreessen Horowitz, ElevenLabs became a unicorn earlier this year. The company offers an API that businesses can utilize for a variety of use cases, such as text-to-speech and dubbing. The company powers text-to-speech functionalities on radio platforms Pocket FM and Kuku FM, as well as voice interactions on the Rabbit r1, and AI-powered search engine Perplexity. Its first product aimed at consumers is the Reader app.
According to the business, hundreds of additional voices that are appropriate for various languages have been added to its collection. The voices of performers like Burt Reynolds, James Dean, Judy Garland, and Sir Laurence Olivier were licensed by the business last month for use on the app.
According to ElevenLabs, the Turbo v2.5 model, which was published last month, is what powers the expanded language coverage. It is touted to lower text-to-speech conversion latency and enhance quality.
Speechify, which has more capabilities like text scanning for documents, Gmail and Canvas integrations, and the ability to clone one’s voice to read aloud material, is the closest competitor of the Reader app. Users can also listen to articles via the Mozilla-owned Pocket and the Audm-based audio app from The New York Times.
ElevenLabs promised to enhance the app’s functionality with features including offline compatibility and audio sample sharing.