Zuckerberg's 'Superintelligence' Team Just Got Bigger As Meta Reportedly Snaps Up Voice AI Startup PlayAI

Meta Platforms, Inc. (META) has bolstered its artificial intelligence (AI) portfolio by reportedly acquiring PlayAI, a startup focusing on voice technology.

A Bloomberg report, citing an internal memo, said late Friday that the entire PlayAI team would join Meta as the company has completed the acquisition of the AI startup. The PlayAI team would report to Johan Schalkwyk, who recently joined the Mark Zuckerberg-led company from voice AI company Sesame AI. 

The report said a Meta spokesperson confirmed the buy but did not share any further details. 

Meta has recently shown urgency in doubling down on its AI initiatives, having set up a new Superintelligence team to expedite the development of artificial general intelligence (AGI). The company also restructured its AI division, creating a new group going by the name Meta Superintelligence Labs under Alexander Wang, who was hired while buying a majority stake in Scale AI.

As the company deepens its AI portfolio, infrastructure talent and expertise, its stock hit an all-time high of $747.90 in late June. Since then, the Meta stock has come off the level.

On Stocktwits, sentiment toward the stock turned to ‘bearish’ (43/100) by late Sunday from ‘neutral’ a day ago. The message volume continued to stay ‘normal.’

Founded by Hammad Syed and Mahmoud Felfel in 2021, Mountain View, California-based PlayAI specializes in building conversational voice models, capable of cloning any voice or accent and generating speech in real time. 

According to Tracxn, PlayAI conducted a seed funding round in November 2024, raising $21 million from seven investors, including Kindred Ventures, 500 Global, and Y Combinator.

Voice-based AI is emerging as a key frontier in artificial intelligence, and SoundHound AI (SOUN) has made the loudest noise so far among investors and analysts. Just over a month ago, Piper Sandler initiated coverage of SoundHound with an 'Overweight' rating and a $12 price target, citing the company's voice AI platform, Houndify, which enables organizations in the auto, IoT, and restaurant sectors to enhance experiences and operational efficiency. 

Piper estimated the serviceable opportunity across these voice AI use cases to be $47 billion by 2027. However, the brokerage's sentiment shifted on Sunday evening as alerts on The Fly showed that Piper downgraded SoundHound to 'Neutral' while maintaining its price target.

For updates and corrections, email newsroom[at]stocktwits[dot]com.

Read Next: EU Seeks Coordination With Tariff-Hit Nations, Keeps ‘Anti-Coercion’ Tool Shelved As Trump Threatens 30% Duties