Otter.ai announced a major upgrade to its note-taking platform that enables real-time transcription across more than thirty languages. The upcoming multilingual transcription feature can follow a single conversation as participants switch between languages, eliminating the need for manual setting changes. After the rollout, the service will cover thirty-one languages, representing the company’s largest language expansion to date.
Thirteen of the newly added languages are already active, including Mandarin Chinese, Korean, German, Italian, Cantonese, Portuguese, Russian, Indonesian, Malay, Dutch, Turkish, Vietnamese and Polish. A further fourteen languages,such as Swedish, Danish, Finnish, Arabic, Hindi, Thai, Hebrew, Norwegian, Greek, Macedonian, Persian, Czech, Hungarian and Romanian,are slated for release in the coming weeks.
The expanded language set runs on Otter’s proprietary speech models, which were built using publicly available datasets. Native-speaking volunteers participated in a review process to validate transcript accuracy, ensuring the models perform reliably across diverse linguistic contexts. This approach mirrors the company’s broader strategy of leveraging open data while incorporating human expertise to refine AI outputs.
The enhancement targets a persistent obstacle for multinational teams, where language switches can disrupt meeting flow and documentation. An Otter spokesperson explained to TechCrunch, “Otter is breaking down language barriers so any company, no matter where they’re based, can build a system of record for the decisions for voice AI communication.” The automatic detection aims to keep transcripts seamless regardless of language changes.
The language rollout follows Otter’s recent diversification into broader workplace AI, including the launch of Work Mode, which aggregates prior meeting notes, action items and relevant files to prepare users for upcoming calls. Live Assist, another addition, offers real-time coaching by analyzing ongoing dialogue and surfacing contextual suggestions. These developments arrive after the firm secured $320 million in financing from General Catalyst, underscoring investor confidence in its AI-driven collaboration suite.