Voice AI Research

Week 2026-W32
4announcements

Sierra@SierraPlatform 2 in corpus · first 2026-07-16

2026-08-07 · 2026-W32 · platform · launch · Voice Personas

Sierra Voice Personas: brand voice, pacing, and mid-call language switch

Sierra launched Voice Personas so one agent can carry brand-specific personality, pacing, interruption behaviour, and mid-call voice or language switching, available on Sierra that day.

Brand voice is a control on the agent platform here, rather than a TTS dropdown in another vendor’s console.

ElevenLabs@ElevenLabs 4 in corpus · first 2026-08-06

2026-08-06 · 2026-W32 · model · api · Dubbing v2

Dubbing v2 opens on the ElevenAPI

ElevenLabs opened Dubbing v2 on the API so developers can embed performance-preserving dubbing across 90+ languages.

Studio dubbing as an API call across 90+ languages, with delivery conditioned on the original performance.

Dubbing v2 is now available on ElevenAPI, enabling developers to embed AI dubbing directly into their products and workflows.

https://x.com/ElevenLabs/status/2085383576959197680

CarMax@CarMax 1 in corpus · first 2026-08-06

2026-08-06 · 2026-W32 · enterprise · launch · Inbound sales voice agents (Sierra) · vendor Sierra

CarMax puts Sierra voice agents on inbound sales calls

CarMax said Sierra voice agents have been live on inbound sales calls since May, answering hours and availability questions and handing off to associates; appointment scheduling is next.

A national used-car retailer on inbound sales voice is a US enterprise proof point next to SoftBank’s Japan channel deal, and it still arrived via a trade-press write-up.

Bland AI@bland_ai 1 in corpus · first 2026-08-04

2026-08-04 · 2026-W32 · model · launch · Bland Speech v3

Bland Speech v3: TTS trained on 100M+ real phone conversations

Bland launched Speech v3, a TTS trained on 100M+ real phone conversations, claiming second place to real humans on Design Arena Audio Realism.

Phone-conversation training set plus a named Audio Realism bench. After starter credits, $0.015 / 1,000 characters.