Meta acquires WaveForms AI, the voice startup of ex-OpenAI GPT-4o voice lead Alexis Conneau
On 2025-08-08 Meta acquired WaveForms AI, a speech startup founded in 2024 by Alexis Conneau (who worked on GPT-4o's Advanced Voice Mode at OpenAI) and Coralie Lemaitre. WaveForms had raised $40M at a $200M valuation to pursue a "Speech Turing Test" and "emotional general intelligence". The founders joined Meta Superintelligence Labs. Their work surfaced a year later as the Muse realtime voice and avatar stack at Connect 2026.
Key facts
- Reported by The Information on 2025-08-08; confirmed to TechCrunch; price not disclosed
- WaveForms raised $40M (Andreessen Horowitz-backed) at a $200M valuation (Dec 2024)
- Founders Alexis Conneau (ex-OpenAI GPT-4o/Advanced Voice Mode, ex-Meta FAIR) and Coralie Lemaitre joined Meta Superintelligence Labs
- Part of Meta's summer-2025 MSL talent push; Meta had bought voice startup PlayAI in July 2025
- Sept 2026: Conneau, now a Meta Distinguished Scientist, introduced Muse Realtime Avatar (~870 ms latency), built on Muse Realtime Voice
What happened
Meta bought a months-old voice startup mainly for its team. Conneau had helped build GPT-4o's native voice mode at OpenAI, so the deal brought OpenAI voice experience into Meta's new superintelligence lab.
Why it matters
It is the origin of Meta's 2026 realtime voice and avatar models (Muse Realtime Voice / Avatar). It was also part of the 2025 wave of acqui-hires in which frontier labs bought small teams instead of licensing their technology.
Changelog
- 2026-09-29: created
Related posts (1)
- Alexis Conneau Alexis Conneau @alex_conneau · x · 2026-09-24
Cited as a source by: 2025-08-08-meta-acquires-waveforms, 2026-09-23-meta-connect-2026
Related events
- Meta acquires voice-AI startup PlayAI (PlayHT); the product is later shut down ★★
- Meta Connect 2026: VR Glasses, Ray-Ban Meta Gen 3, camera-free audio glasses and Muse everywhere ★★★★
- Meta launches Muse, a free consumer personal AI agent ★★★★
Sources (4)
- pressTechCrunch - Meta acquires AI audio startup WaveForms
- pressSiliconANGLE - Meta reportedly acquires voice AI startup WaveForms
- officialAlexis Conneau on X - introducing Muse Realtime Avatar (2026-09-24)
- pressLatent Space AINews - Meta Connect 2026 (WaveForms work surfaced at Connect)
id: 2025-08-08-meta-acquires-waveforms · updated 2026-09-29 · open in the interactive timeline