YouTube adds AI-powered dubbing tool

YouTube unveiled its latest venture to empower creators with an artificial intelligence-based dubbing tool designed to automatically translate and dub videos into different languages.

During a presentation at VidCon, the platform announced a partnership with Aloud, an artificial intelligence-based dubbing service developed at Google’s in-house incubator Area 120.

In a bid to help creators tap into a broader international audience, YouTube had previously introduced support for multi-language audio tracks. This feature enabled creators to add dubbing to both new and existing videos. Since its launch in June 2023, over 10,000 videos in more than 70 languages have been dubbed, according to YouTube's statement to TechCrunch.

Traditionally, creators had to collaborate directly with third-party dubbing providers, which often proved to be time-consuming and expensive. However, with the integration of Aloud, YouTube creators can now utilize the AI-powered dubbing service at no additional cost.

Introduced by Google in 2022, Aloud offers creators a streamlined process for dubbing their content. The AI-powered system transcribes the original video, performs translations, and generates a dubbed version. Creators have the opportunity to review and edit the transcription before Aloud finalizes the dubbing process.

During the announcement at VidCon, Amjad Hanif, YouTube's VP of Creator Products, revealed that the platform is currently testing the dubbing tool with hundreds of creators. Hanif further mentioned that YouTube plans to make the tool available to all creators in the near future.

While Aloud is currently accessible in English, Spanish, and Portuguese, YouTube intends to expand the available languages, with future additions such as Hindi and Bahasa Indonesian. Hanif also shared YouTube's vision of enhancing the dubbed audio tracks to mimic the creator's voice, emphasizing expression and lip sync.