Google Translate rival DeepL launches live translation feature

German AI startup DeepL is launching a feature for translating spoken language in real-time, DeepL Voice company CEO and founder Jaroslaw Kutylowski has announced.

DeepL can then provide live translations for video chat, allowing people to join a Zoom meeting in different languages. There will be an app for mobile devices that can be used to translate face-to-face conversations in real time.

DeepL is already a leader in the translation of written content, Kutylowski said at a company event in Berlin on Wednesday. However, live translation of spoken content is a completely different matter.

“Sentences are sometimes not completed, the pronunciation is often unclear and the latency should not be too high.” These limitations can lead to mistranslations and poor user experience.

“These are the same challenges that can lead to misunderstandings in face-to-face interactions,” Kutylowski says.

DeepL says the live translation feature is specifically designed for spoken language and can ensure smooth communication in multiple languages ​​and help overcome language barriers.

The company is holding its own against strong competition, especially Google, which itself has a larger AI tool, Gemini, which also supports real-time translations. Microsoft also offers live translation for its Teams video conferencing application.

However, thanks to its relatively high translation quality, the Cologne-based company has managed to compete with Google Translate and other offerings from major US providers in the past.

Germany’s most valuable AI start-up recently expanded its product portfolio with a writing assistant that relies on artificial intelligence (DeepL Write Pro).

In July, DeepL launched a new generation of its language model, which it claims will increase the quality of machine translations. The company pointed to blind tests with language experts, which showed that DeepL translations based on the new Large Language Model (LLM) were rated better than the results of systems from US technology giants.