DeepL launches real-time speech translation products

DeepL has announced the launch of its voice translation solution, DeepL Voice, offering two new products designed for real-time spoken translation.

The language AI company has introduced DeepL Voice for Meetings and Voice for Conversations, aimed at both virtual meetings and in-person interactions. This technology allows participants to communicate in their preferred languages, with real-time translated captions available for other users.

"Bringing the quality and security that DeepL is known for to real-time speech translation was the next frontier for us as a business and we're excited to finally unveil our first products. Building on the expertise and models we've developed since our launch in 2017, we've been working closely with customers as part of a beta programme to ensure that we're delivering a solution that solves real-life challenges businesses face," said Jarek Kutylowski, CEO and Founder at DeepL.

He added, "DeepL is already a leader in written translation, but real time speech translation is an entirely different story. When translating speech as it happens, you're dealing with incomplete input, pronunciation issues, latency and more, all of which can lead to inaccurate translations and poor user experience. These are the same challenges that are oftentimes faced in human conversation that can lead to misunderstandings, so we built a solution that would take these into account from the offset and enable businesses to break down language barriers by enabling them to communicate in multiple languages as required."

DeepL Voice for Meetings aims to eliminate language barriers during virtual meetings. It allows participants to use their preferred language, providing real-time translated captions to increase engagement by enabling clearer communication.

Meanwhile, DeepL Voice for Conversations supports mobile device usage, facilitating one-on-one, in-person discussions across different languages with translated captions. It features two viewing modes to ensure ease of understanding on shared devices.

DeepL, known for its translation and writing tools, has developed this voice solution using AI models trained on diverse data sets, considering various accents and environments to ensure high accuracy and reliability. The service currently supports spoken languages, including English, German, Japanese, Korean, Swedish, Dutch, French, Turkish, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Italian. Additionally, translated captions are available in all 33 languages supported by the DeepL Translator.

Christine Aubry, Internationalisation Coordinator from Brioche Pasquier, who participated in the beta testing of DeepL Voice, commented, "Before DeepL Voice, our main challenge was maintaining the inclusion of our international sites in company projects. The experience was great, DeepL Voice for Meetings really brought our teams together - bridging the gap between our sites and opening the door to collaboration and teamwork."

"I have tested other tools which generally only support one language in the meeting, but there is nothing like this; DeepL Voice is by far the most complete tool I have used."

The launch of DeepL Voice follows a year of developments for the company, including the release of DeepL Write Pro and improvements to its Glossary feature, as well as the unveiling of a large language model outperforming competitors. In May, DeepL secured USD $300 million in new investment, achieving a USD $2 billion valuation.