New Delhi: Meta has quietly wrapped up another acquisition in the AI space. This time, it’s a small voice tech startup called PlayAI. The deal was confirmed through an internal company memo and later reported by Bloomberg. While the financial details remain under wraps, it’s clear Meta wants to go deeper into voice-powered AI systems.
PlayAI specialises in building human-like voices using artificial intelligence. The startup also created a platform that makes it easy for developers and creators to generate voice content quickly. Now, the entire PlayAI team will be joining Meta as early as next week. Their work will be reporting directly to Johan Schalkwyk, who recently moved to Meta from another voice AI company, Sesame AI.
A push to power Meta’s voice future
Meta is putting major energy and money into AI this year. It’s not just about writing text or generating images anymore. The focus is now also on audio and voice systems. According to the memo reviewed by Bloomberg, PlayAI’s “work in creating natural voices, along with a platform for easy voice creation, is a great match for our work and road map, across AI Characters, Meta AI, Wearables and audio content creation.”
This is part of a broader strategy. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently reorganised the company’s AI teams and launched a new unit called Meta Superintelligence Labs. The unit is now being led by Alexandr Wang, the founder and former CEO of Scale AI, who joined Meta earlier this year.
PlayAI’s work will likely find use in Meta’s voice assistants, smart glasses, virtual characters, and other audio-focused products. Meta hasn’t commented beyond confirming the deal, but the timing suggests this is part of a bigger internal shift toward voice-first interfaces.
Voice AI now a hot race in tech
There’s a rush among tech giants to dominate AI-powered voice platforms. Google has its Assistant, Apple has Siri, and Amazon is working on giving Alexa a major upgrade. Meta joining the race isn’t surprising. They already have wearables like Ray-Ban smart glasses and are investing heavily in real-time avatars and audio tools.
Personally, I’ve noticed more voice tools creeping into everyday apps. Whether it’s voice messages on Instagram or voice typing in Messenger, it’s clear Meta wants to make speaking to machines feel more human and less robotic.
A growing team of voice experts
The PlayAI team will now work under Schalkwyk, a veteran in voice tech. Before joining Meta, he spent time at Sesame AI, another player in the voice space. The internal shuffle shows Meta wants to strengthen its voice research from all angles, by both hiring and acquiring.
This isn’t the first time Meta has pulled in top AI minds. They’ve already brought in talent from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Apple’s own AI lab. Just last week, Apple’s head of foundation models, Ruoming Pang, left to join Meta, reportedly for a package that could go beyond USD 200 million (₹1,740 crore)