Spotify and OpenAI launch AI-Powered Voice Translation for Podcasters

Spotify, in collaboration with OpenAI, has launched an AI-powered voice translation feature for podcasters. This tool will allow podcasters to translate their shows into other languages, initially offering English to Spanish translations, with French and German translations to be added soon. The feature offers instant translation, enabling the creation of foreign-language versions of podcasts with virtually no effort, something that will definitely open up dozens of new markets to many content creators.

The translation feature is currently being trialed by a select group of podcasters, including Dax Shepard, Monica Padman, Lex Fridman, Bill Simmons, and Steven Bartlett. Spotify plans to include popular podcasts like The Rewatchables from The Ringer and an upcoming show hosted by Trevor Noah in the program, and in the future, we assume it will be available to any creator on the platform, although the program's specific details about the wider availability, expansion timeline, or whether it will incur any additional costs have not been provided yet.

The translation feature is powered by OpenAI's Whisper, a tool that transcribes English, translates other languages into English and vice versa, and as a native Spanish speaker myself, I can attest that the result is quite impresive so far. Spotify's tool also goes a step further, synthesizing the translated podcast in the podcaster's own voice, which kinda allows global listeners to connect with the original podcasters more authentically. The timing of this announcement by Spotify aligns with OpenAI's announcement of new features for voice commands and image uploads on ChatGPT, so I think is safe to assume it won't be the last time we hear about Whisper being integrated into multiple services.