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Google DeepMind Licenses Hume AI Tech and Hires CEO to Supercharge Gemini’s Voice

The non‑exclusive pact channels Hume’s emotion‑aware voice tech into Gemini, with Hume remaining independent.

Overview

  • CEO Alan Cowen and roughly seven Hume AI engineers are joining Google DeepMind to work on Gemini’s voice and emotional‑intelligence features.
  • Google has licensed Hume AI’s technology on a non‑exclusive basis, and Hume will continue supplying its tools to other AI labs.
  • Financial terms were not disclosed, and both companies declined to share additional details beyond the licensing and team moves reported.
  • Hume AI named Appen veteran Andrew Ettinger as its new CEO and says it plans further model releases as it doubles down on its voice data, annotation, and RLHE infrastructure.
  • Hume AI projects about $100 million in 2026 revenue after raising roughly $74–80 million to date, as regulators signal closer scrutiny of aqui‑hire‑style deals across the AI sector.