谷歌通过一项授权协议从 Hume AI 吸纳核心人才，Hume AI 首席执行官 Alan Cowen 及约 7 名顶级工程师将加入 Google DeepMind。交易金额未披露，但 Hume AI 表示将继续向其他前沿 AI 实验室提供技术。该举措反映出语音接口在 AI 交互中的重要性上升，尤其是基于语音识别用户情绪与状态的能力。

Hume AI 预计 2026 年收入将达到 1 亿美元，公司目前已累计融资 7,400 万美元。该公司在情感智能语音模型上投入数百万美元，通过专家标注真实对话中的情绪线索来训练模型。加入 Google DeepMind 后，Cowen 团队将把语音与情绪识别能力整合进谷歌的前沿模型，以提升模型在语音交互中的适应性与实用性。

此类交易模糊了合作与并购的界限，使大型科技公司能够在监管压力较小的情况下获得高价值人才。类似案例包括 2024 年 Google DeepMind 以 30 亿美元授权 Character.ai 技术，以及微软、亚马逊和 Meta 通过类似安排引入关键团队或高管。随着 OpenAI 的 ChatGPT 已具备逼真的语音模式，以及谷歌与苹果达成多年合作、由 Gemini 驱动新版 Siri，语音与情绪智能正成为 AI 竞争的关键量化赛道。

Google has secured key talent from Hume AI through a licensing agreement, with CEO Alan Cowen and roughly seven top engineers joining Google DeepMind. Financial terms were not disclosed, but Hume AI says it will continue supplying its technology to other frontier AI labs. The move signals the growing importance of voice as an AI interface, particularly the ability to infer user emotion and state from speech.

Hume AI projects $100 million in revenue in 2026 and has raised $74 million in funding to date. The company has invested millions of dollars in emotionally intelligent voice models, training them through expert annotation of emotional cues in real conversations. At Google DeepMind, Cowen’s team will integrate voice and emotion recognition into frontier models to improve adaptability and usefulness in voice-based interactions.

The deal reflects a broader trend that blurs partnerships and acquisitions, allowing large firms to extract high-value talent with less regulatory scrutiny. Comparable arrangements include Google DeepMind’s $3 billion licensing deal with Character.ai in 2024, as well as similar moves by Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta. With ChatGPT already offering lifelike voice mode and Google partnering with Apple to power a new version of Siri with Gemini, voice and emotional intelligence are becoming a central quantitative battleground in AI competition.