Voice‑AI startup ElevenLabs announced a $500 million financing led by Sequoia Capital, pushing its valuation to $11 billion. Existing backers a16z, Iconiq and several others increased their stakes, while new investors such as Lightspeed Venture Partners, EvanticCapital and Bond joined the round. The capital will fund research, product development and international expansion into markets like India, Japan, Singapore, Brazil and Mexico. Co‑founder Mati Staniszewski highlighted plans to broaden the company’s offerings beyond voice, including video content and multi‑modal AI agents. The company closed the prior year with $330 million in annual recurring revenue. Read more →

Google DeepMind has hired the CEO and several engineers from voice AI startup Hume AI as part of a new licensing agreement. The move brings Hume AI's expertise in emotion‑aware speech processing to improve Gemini's voice capabilities. Hume AI will retain a non‑exclusive right to its intellectual property, continue supplying its technology to other firms, and launch new models while targeting $100 million in revenue this year. The deal highlights a growing trend of AI giants acquiring talent rather than whole companies, underscoring voice as the next frontier in artificial intelligence. Read more →

Venture capitalists surveyed by TechCrunch believe 2026 will be the turning point for enterprise AI, with companies moving beyond experimentation to meaningful integration and measurable ROI. Investors highlight a shift toward custom models, AI consulting services, voice‑first interfaces, and AI that operates in the physical world. They also warn that budgets will concentrate on solutions that prove value, while many startups will face pressure to demonstrate defensible moats built on data, workflow integration, and deep industry expertise. Read more →

San Francisco‑based startup Known has built a voice‑powered AI onboarding system that lets users describe themselves without filling out forms. The approach yields longer, more personal onboarding sessions and helps the app match users to dates that lead to real‑world meetings. Early testing showed a high rate of in‑person dates, and the company has secured funding from investors including Forerunner, NFX, Pear VC and Coelius Capital. Read more →

Voice AI startup Wispr announced a $25 million investment led by Notable Capital, adding to a prior $30 million Menlo Ventures round and bringing total funding to $81 million. The capital will fund international expansion, new product development, and hiring of top machine‑learning talent. Wispr Flow, the company’s dictation app, has seen rapid user growth, a 40 percent month‑over‑month increase since June, and strong enterprise adoption, with 270 Fortune 500 firms reached and 125 signed enterprise customers. CEO Tanay Kothari highlighted high retention, new user guidance features, and plans to broaden platform support, including an Android beta. Read more →

California startup Subtle Computing has developed a compact, low‑latency voice‑isolation model that dramatically improves speech recognition for AI applications in noisy settings. By tailoring models to specific device acoustics and preserving user voice characteristics, the company claims an order‑of‑magnitude performance gain over generic solutions. The technology runs on devices with just a few megabytes of memory and 100 ms latency, and it has earned a spot in Qualcomm’s voice and music extension program. Backed by $6 million in seed funding, Subtle Computing is positioning itself as a key enabler for consumer, automotive, and hardware partners seeking reliable voice AI experiences. Read more →

Sesame, a conversational AI and smart‑glasses startup founded by former Oculus executives, announced a $250 million Series B financing round. The company is now opening an early beta of its iOS app, giving select users hands‑on experience with its voice‑driven AI agent. Sesame’s leadership team includes Brendan Iribe, Ankit Kumar, Nate Mitchell, Hans Hartmann and other former Meta engineers. The funding will support development of lightweight eyewear that integrates the AI companion, which has already generated millions of minutes of conversation in early demos. Read more →

Keplar, a two‑year‑old voice AI startup, announced a $3.4 million seed round led by Kleiner Perkins with participation from SV Angel, Common Metal and South Park Commons. The company’s platform uses conversational AI to conduct customer interviews, delivering insights faster and at lower cost than traditional market‑research firms. Keplar’s technology can automatically generate interview guides, reach out to participants via a voice assistant, and compile results into reports similar to those produced by human-checked research. Early customers include Clorox and Intercom, and the startup joins other AI‑driven research players such as Outset and Listen Labs. Read more →

Keplar, a two‑year‑old voice AI startup, announced a $3.4 million seed round led by Kleiner Perkins with participation from SV Angel, Common Metal and South Park Commons. The company’s platform uses conversational AI to conduct customer interviews, delivering insights faster and at lower cost than traditional market‑research firms. Keplar’s technology can automatically generate interview guides, reach out to participants via a voice assistant, and compile results into reports similar to those produced by human-checked research. Early customers include Clorox and Intercom, and the startup joins other AI‑driven research players such as Outset and Listen Labs. Read more →

Keplar, a two‑year‑old voice AI startup, announced a $3.4 million seed round led by Kleiner Perkins with participation from SV Angel, Common Metal and South Park Commons. The company’s platform uses conversational AI to conduct customer interviews, delivering insights faster and at lower cost than traditional market‑research firms. Keplar’s technology can automatically generate interview guides, reach out to participants via a voice assistant, and compile results into reports similar to those produced by human-checked research. Early customers include Clorox and Intercom, and the startup joins other AI‑driven research players such as Outset and Listen Labs. Read more →

Keplar, a two‑year‑old voice AI startup, announced a $3.4 million seed round led by Kleiner Perkins with participation from SV Angel, Common Metal and South Park Commons. The company’s platform uses conversational AI to conduct customer interviews, delivering insights faster and at lower cost than traditional market‑research firms. Keplar’s technology can automatically generate interview guides, reach out to participants via a voice assistant, and compile results into reports similar to those produced by human-checked research. Early customers include Clorox and Intercom, and the startup joins other AI‑driven research players such as Outset and Listen Labs. Read more →

Keplar, a two‑year‑old voice AI startup, announced a $3.4 million seed round led by Kleiner Perkins with participation from SV Angel, Common Metal and South Park Commons. The company’s platform uses conversational AI to conduct customer interviews, delivering insights faster and at lower cost than traditional market‑research firms. Keplar’s technology can automatically generate interview guides, reach out to participants via a voice assistant, and compile results into reports similar to those produced by human-checked research. Early customers include Clorox and Intercom, and the startup joins other AI‑driven research players such as Outset and Listen Labs. Read more →

Taco Bell’s chief digital officer says the chain is actively debating when to rely on voice‑AI ordering at its drive‑throughs. While the technology has been rolled out at more than 500 locations, viral incidents—such as a customer ordering 18,000 water cups to bypass the AI—highlight challenges. Chief Digital and Technology Officer Dane Matthews acknowledges both failures and surprising successes, noting that human staff may need to step in during busy periods. The company plans to give franchisees flexibility, recommending AI use when appropriate and encouraging monitoring and human intervention when needed. Read more →