Speechly co-founder Hannes Heikinheimo expressed excitement about joining a company committed to safety and civility. He stated that their AI expertise would be used to evolve traditional moderation methods to meet the dynamic needs of a user-generated content platform. The news comes as Roblox laid off 30 employees from its talent acquisition team last week, shifting its focus to improving its current business.
Key takeaways:
- Roblox has acquired Finnish AI start-up Speechly, which specialises in voice moderation technology.
- The technology from Speechly will be used to enhance Roblox's voice chat service, introduced in 2021.
- Prior to the acquisition, Speechly had received backing from Y Combinator and raised €2 million in a seed funding round in 2019.
- Roblox recently laid off 30 employees from its talent acquisition team as it shifts focus to improving its current business.