Audio & Speech

Today's Stories

1. 1

   Adobe Firefly launches AI audio tools, adds Google's Gemini Omni Flash

   Adobe is releasing three AI audio tools — Generate Music (royalty-free music for videos), Generate Speech (script-to-voiceover conversion), and Generate Sound Effects (scene audio) — across its Firefly platform, all cleared for commercial use. Firefly AI Assistant now offers free daily generations, and Adobe has integrated Google's Gemini Omni Flash model, which accepts video, audio, image, and text inputs alongside existing third-party models from Kling AI, Luma AI, and Runway. The audio tools extend Firefly's creative suite beyond text and image generation, letting creators produce video soundtracks and voiceovers within a single platform without licensing concerns. Gemini Omni Flash's multimodal input (video, audio, images, text) broadens the range of creative tasks Firefly can handle, potentially streamlining workflows for content producers.

   Adobe reports that "Create Storyboard" and "Create Brand Kit" are among the most-used Firefly features, suggesting demand for integrated creative tooling; uptake of the audio tools will signal whether users adopt these features at similar rates.

2. 2

   Adobe adds music, speech, sound effects to Firefly AI tool

   Adobe announced general availability of audio generation capabilities in Firefly, its creative AI suite. The new tools include Generate Music (powered by Firefly Music Model), Generate Speech (using Firefly Speech or ElevenLabs), and a sound effects generator. All audio is production-quality, commercially safe, and requires no separate subscription. Creators can now produce royalty-free music, voiceovers, and sound effects within a single platform without copyright concerns. The tools let users customize music by mood and length, control speech cadence and emotion, and generate sound effects that match content timing. This simplifies the workflow for content creators who need commercially safe audio.

   Adobe built Generate Speech with an option to use ElevenLabs' models alongside its own Firefly Speech technology, giving users flexibility in voice quality and control. The audio suite complements earlier June updates to Firefly that added agentic video-editing skills for Elements.

3. 3

   AI voice-cloning fuels surge in social engineering attacks

   Scammers are increasingly using AI-powered voice-cloning and deepfake technology to imitate trusted contacts, send personalized phishing emails, and conduct coordinated attacks across email, phone calls, messaging platforms and social media simultaneously. These capabilities, once requiring specialized expertise, are now widely accessible through readily available tools. AI has dramatically accelerated the speed and scale at which social engineering attacks can operate. Attackers can generate hyper-realistic emails, clone voices, and create manipulated audio, images and videos tailored to specific individuals or teams in minutes—making it harder for employees to spot fraud before disclosing sensitive information or granting system access.

   The article recommends verifying any unexpected request involving credentials, approvals, payments or sensitive information through a separate trusted communication channel, following established business processes, and reporting suspicious communications promptly. Independently confirming requests can help prevent fraud and impersonation attempts.

4. 4

   Deepfake voices pose growing risk to diplomatic communications

   A Reddit discussion raises concerns about AI voice cloning targeting diplomats and government officials, noting that voice recognition alone no longer serves as reliable identity verification when realistic synthetic voices can be created. If adversaries can convincingly clone the voices of known contacts, officials may be tricked into sharing sensitive information or making decisions based on fraudulent calls, potentially undermining secure diplomatic and government communications.

   The discussion acknowledges uncertainty about how frequently deepfake calls are occurring in practice and whether officials have already begun changing verification protocols in response to the threat.

5. 5

   Wispr raises $280M for AI speech-to-text at $2B valuation

   Wispr AI, which makes Flow—a dictation tool that converts spoken words into clean text—raised $280 million in Series B funding at a $2 billion valuation, led by Menlo Ventures. The company also previewed Canto, its first proprietary AI model trained to isolate human speech in noisy environments. Canto reduces transcription error rates in loud settings from 30% to nearly 5%–10%, making dictation practical beyond quiet rooms—in cars, offices, or near traffic. This matters for mobile workers, but also for deaf and hard-of-hearing users who rely on AI transcription in real-world, multi-speaker settings. Wispr says people have written over 60 billion words on Flow and the tool is used by almost all Fortune 500 companies and over 10,000 enterprises.

   Canto is in preview. The company's total raised now stands at $361 million after this round, which included new investors Acrew, Forerunner, Goodwater, Peak XV, Together Fund, and PLUS Capital alongside existing backers.

6. 6

   Regal Voice AI agents now available via Five9's contact center platform

   Enterprise voice AI company Regal Voice has integrated its autonomous AI voice agents into Five9's contact center platform through Five9's AI Agent Connect program. The integration allows Five9 customers to trigger follow-up calls or texts from Regal's AI agents automatically after a call event, with call records and contact history flowing between the two systems. Regal's software can also score contacts for intent and route high-intent leads directly into Five9 outbound campaigns without manual intervention. The partnership expands Regal's reach into Five9's customer base of more than 3,500 enterprises across more than 140 countries. For contact centers in regulated industries like healthcare, insurance, and education—where Regal already operates—the integration removes manual queueing steps and lets AI and human agents start with full call history. Regal claims a 99.5% resolution rate without human handoff, so the pairing may reduce operational friction for enterprises managing high call volumes.

   Regal has raised $83 million to date, most recently $40 million in October 2024. Five9 reported strong results on April 30, with subscription revenue growth accelerating for a second consecutive quarter and the company raising its full-year outlook; the stock rose about 18% on those results. Both companies are signaling momentum in agentic contact center software.