Block announces Dessa, a voice model trained only on human conversation
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Block announced Dessa, a full-duplex speech-to-speech voice model that, according to the company, was trained from scratch solely on human conversation. The model can listen and speak at the same time, reproduce pauses, laughs, cries, and different cadences, and run locally on a MacBook Pro M4 Max or better; TechCrunch reports that its training used a single NVIDIA GPU rack.
The company says it created Dessa to explore a more natural voice interface, improve understanding between humans and AI, and address safety issues linked to current systems’ difficulty perceiving emotion. Demonstrations shared by Block show conversations that are generally natural but sometimes awkward or inaccurate. The model is not publicly accessible yet, and Block will give early access to a small group of AI safety researchers for testing.
Why it matters · editorial interpretation
Simultaneous listening and speaking, including cues such as pauses and laughter, could inform research into more natural voice interfaces and safety in interpreting emotions. Since the model is not yet publicly available and its demonstrations have limitations, its practical impact remains under evaluation.