Meta has acquired WaveForms AI, a startup focused on AI that can recognize and replicate emotion in audio. WaveForms AI was founded by Alexis Conneau, who previously worked on audio research at Meta and OpenAI, and Coralie Lemaitre, a former Google ad strategist. The company launched in December and earlier this year announced a US$40 million funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz. Conneau and Lemaitre will join Meta Superintelligence Labs, the firm’s new AI organization. Meta has recently increased its efforts in AI, making hires from companies including OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google, and acquiring the voice AI startup PlayAI. WaveForms AI’s acquisition mirrors a consistent pattern where big tech companies prioritize talent and intellectual property over existing product traction when buying AI startups. This approach parallels Facebook’s 2017 acquisition of Ozlo, a virtual assistant startup that had generated only 500-1,000 Android installs but brought valuable AI expertise to enhance Messenger capabilities1. Similarly, Cisco paid $125 million for conversational AI company MindMeld in 2017, focusing on integrating the team’s expertise rather than the existing product2. The strategy reflects how established companies can accelerate AI development by absorbing experienced teams who understand both the technical challenges and market applications. WaveForms co-founder Alexis Conneau’s background spanning Meta’s audio research, OpenAI’s GPT-4 development, and now returning to Meta exemplifies the type of cross-pollinated expertise these acquisitions target.

Full report : Meta has acquired WaveForms AI, which is working on AI that understands and mimics emotion in audio and debuted in December with a $40M seed led by a16z.