Tags: Voice Assistants

Thinking Machines Lab, the startup founded by former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati, announced a full‑duplex interaction model that can listen and speak simultaneously. The TML‑Interaction‑Small model generates responses in about 0.40 seconds, a speed the company says approaches natural human conversation. The technology is currently in a research preview phase, with limited access slated for the coming months and a wider release planned later this year. If the model delivers on its promise, AI voice assistants could become noticeably more fluid and less prone to awkward pauses. Read more

Amazon Ring chose AI voice platform Vapi from a pool of more than 40 vendors to handle all inbound calls, a move that spurred a $50 million Series B round and pushed the startup’s valuation to roughly $500 million. The deal, led by Peak XV Partners and backed by Microsoft’s M12, Kleiner Perkins and Bessemer, marks a milestone for Vapi, whose technology now powers millions of daily calls for Ring and a roster of other enterprise customers. Read more