Google Nabs Top Talent From AI Voice Startup Hume AI

Google DeepMind WIRED is hiring the CEO and several senior engineers from Hume AI, a startup working on emotionally intelligent voice interfaces, as part of a new licensing agreement, WIRED has learned.

Financial details of the deal are confidential, but Hume AI says the company will continue to supply its technology to other frontier AI labs.

This deal is the latest sign that AI companies expect voice mode to become an increasingly important interface for interacting with customers, and that understanding a user’s emotions and moods based on their voice interactions is key.

Hume AI expects to generate $100 million in revenue in 2026 as it works with AI labs to fine-tune AI models to be more capable and useful voice assistants, says John Biddle, co-founder and managing partner of AEGIS Ventures, which invested in Hume AI. To date, the company has raised $74 million in funding.

CEO Alan Quinn, who holds a Ph.D. in psychology, will join Google DeepMind along with approximately seven other engineers. Quinn and other Hume AI recruits will help Google DeepMind integrate voice and emotional intelligence into its latest models, according to sources who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the deal.

Hume AI has invested millions in developing models and tools to hone realistic voice interfaces and detect emotions in users’ voices. The company trains its models by having experts annotate emotional cues in real conversations. Sources say Quinn and his colleagues at Google will help the tech giant integrate voice and emotion technology into its flagship models.

“Voice is going to become a major interface for AI, and that’s definitely where it’s headed,” says Andrew Ettinger, an experienced investor and executive who serves as CEO of Hume AI. Ettinger says the company will launch its latest models in the coming months.

AI models that can detect user emotions and adapt accordingly will become increasingly valuable, not just for consumer devices but also in customer support, says Beadle, of AEGIS Ventures. “In terms of intelligence, the AI ​​models are very good at this point, but in terms of general assistance — do they understand your emotions and can they respond in a way that enables you to achieve whatever goal you are pursuing — we think there is a great deal of opportunity for improvement,” Biddle says.

The Hume AI deal could put Google in a position to compete more aggressively with OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which already features a vibrant voice mode. Google also recently partnered with Apple as part of a multi-year agreement that will see Google Gemini power a new version of Siri.

The Hume AI deal is the latest arrangement that blurs the line between a partnership and a traditional acquisition. Such arrangements allow big tech companies to extract high-value talent without the government oversight that comes with traditional acquisitions — although the Federal Trade Commission recently said it would begin scrutinizing so-called “experienced employees.”

In 2024, Google DeepMind reportedly paid $3 billion to license the technology from Character.ai, a company working on lifelike interactive chatbots. Similar deals have seen Microsoft hire top talent from Inflection; Amazon is recruiting the team behind Adept; and Meeta Singh, CEO of Scale AI.