The evolution of computing interfaces has brought us closer to seamless human-machine interaction, from keyboards to touchscreens and now smartphones. But despite the iPhone’s release over a decade ago, we still rely on screens for most interactions. So, what comes next? The answer might lie in speech, which is the natural modality for human-to-human interaction.
Advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) have made giant strides over the past few years, particularly when combined with hardware and speech recognition technology. Sesame, a startup founded by experienced teams, aims to revolutionize computing interfaces by leveraging audio-first approach. The company’s focus is on creating an intuitive and seamless experience that feels more natural than current screens-based interactions.
Sesame’s foundation lies in its Conversational Speech Model (CSM), which employs a novel speech modeling approach. While it’s not yet out of the uncanny valley, it’s close to being indistinguishable from human-like conversations. The company is also developing its first AI companions, Maya and Miles, for research preview.
The co-founders, Brendan Iribe and Ankit Kumar, bring unique expertise to the table. Brendan, former Oculus CEO, has experience building successful hardware platforms, while Ankit, Discord’s Clyde AI engineering lead, has productionized language and speech models at scale. Their collaboration led to the birth of Sesame after months of working sessions and cross-country flights.
The company is now hiring across various departments to help grow into the next great consumer computing platform. If you’re interested in redefining how we interact with computers, Sesame is an exciting opportunity to be a part of this innovative journey.
Source: https://a16z.com/announcement/investing-in-sesame-ai