WellSaid Labs Launches Caruso, a New AI Voice Model with Emotional Directing

WellSaid Labs, a Kirkland, Wash.-based company, has unveiled its latest AI voice model, Caruso. This innovative technology empowers users to precisely control the emotions, pitch, and pace of AI-generated voice clips, similar to how a human director coaches a voice actor.

Caruso offers several key improvements, including faster audio rendering and enhanced pronunciation. The goal is to create AI voices that deliver the desired performance on the first attempt, significantly streamlining the audio production process.

“Say it right the first time, drastically reducing the time and effort that goes into re-rendering audio clips,” says Brian Cook, CEO of WellSaid Labs, in a blog post announcing the new model. This focus on efficiency and quality is central to Caruso’s design.

WellSaid Labs, originally incubated at Seattle’s AI2 Incubator, secured $10 million in Series A funding in 2021, led by Fuse. The company specializes in enterprise AI voice solutions, emphasizing responsible and ethical AI practices to differentiate itself within the competitive AI voice market.

Brian Cook, former CEO of Nintex and founder of Incredible Capital, assumed the role of CEO at WellSaid Labs a year ago. Matt Hocking is the company’s co-founder and executive chairman.