| Synthesia | |
| Logo Alt: | logo of Synthesia (company) comprising circular graphic aside company name |
| Type: | Private |
| Industry: | Artificial intelligence |
| Predecessors: | --> |
| Successors: | --> |
| Founded: | 2017 |
| Founder: | Lourdes Agapito, Matthias Niessner, Victor Riparbelli, Steffen Tjerrild |
| Hq Location City: | London |
| Hq Location Country: | England |
| Area Served: | Worldwide |
| Products: | Synthetic media, Artificial Intelligence, Video editing software |
| Owners: | --> |
| Num Employees: | c. 200[1] |
| Num Employees Year: | 2023 |
Synthesia is a synthetic media generation company that develops software used to create AI generated video content. It is based in London, England.
Synthesia is most often used by corporations for communication, orientation, and training videos.[2] It has been used in advertising campaigns, reporting, product demonstrations, and to create chatbots.[3]
Synthesia's software algorithm mimics speech and facial movements based on video recordings of an individual’s speech and phoneme pronunciation. From this a text-to-speech video is created to look and sound like the individual.[4] [5]
Users create content via the platform's pre-generated AI presenters[6] or by creating digital representations of themselves, or personal avatars, using the platform's AI video editing tool.[7] These avatars can be used to narrate videos generated from text. As of August 2021, Synthesia's voice database included multiple gender options in over sixty languages.[8]
The platform prohibits use of its software to create non-consensual clones, including of celebrities or political figures for satirical purposes.[9] Explicit consent must be provided in addition to a strict pre-screening regimen for use of an individual’s likeness to avoid “deepfaking”.[10]
Synthesia's software utilizes deep learning architecture developed by Lourdes Agapito and Matthias Niessner. The company was co-founded in 2017 by Agapito, Niessner, Victor Riparbelli, and Steffen Tjerrild.[11] In 2018, the company first demonstrated the software’s capabilities on the BBC programme Click when it presented a digitization of Matthew Amroliwala speaking Spanish, Mandarin, and Hindi.[12]
Synthesia raised $3.1 million in seed funding in 2019. In 2020, Synthesia users were reported to include Amazon, Tiffany & Co. and IHG Hotels & Resorts.[13] [14]
In April 2021, the company raised $12.5 million in Series A funding. In December 2021, it raised $50 million in a Series B funding round led by Kleiner Perkins and GV.[15]
In 2021, Synthesia partnered with Lay's to create the Messi Messages campaign featuring Argentine footballer Lionel Messi. Users created personalized messages with Synthesia's software and sent custom artificial reality video messages from Messi based on their text input.[16] The campaign received a Cannes Lion Award.[17]
Synthesia gained a total valuation of $1 billion, achieving unicorn status, when it raised $90 million from Accel and Nvidia partnership NVentures, in June 2023, during its Series C funding round.[18] [19]
While the company prohibits use of its technology for misinformation or "news-like content",[20] an October 2023 Freedom House report stated that Synthesia tools had been used by governments in Venezuela and China to create videos of fake TV news outlets with AI-generated avatars in order to spread propaganda.[21] The company stated, in February 2024, that it had improved its misuse detection systems,[20] and, in April 2024, that new users of its technology are screened by the company, and content employing it is further vetted by Synthesia moderators.[22]
In January 2024, the company introduced its AI video assistant, which turns text-to-video.[23] That April, with a reported 55,000 subscribers, including half of the Fortune 100, Synthesia launched "expressive avatars".[22]