Alibaba’s Voice AI Runs at 5Hz and Still Beats 25Hz Models

Author(s): Gowtham Boyina Originally published on Towards AI. The Voice AI Compute Problem Most large audio language models process speech at 12.5Hz or 25Hz frame rates — 12.5 to 25 audio features per second. Higher frame rates capture more detail but require more compute. For real-time voice interactions, this creates a problem: you need fast responses (low latency), but processing high-frame-rate audio on GPUs is expensive. Traditional models: Process all audio at a single resolution (e.g., 25Hz throughout)In this article, Alibaba’s Fun-Audio-Chat presents a novel approach to voice AI that combines a low-resolution backbone with high-resolution refinement to reduce computational costs while maintaining voice quality. The model’s design not only aims to minimize processing demands by operating at a lower base frame rate but also utilizes advanced training techniques to ensure that text comprehension capabilities are preserved while integrating audio understanding. This innovative dual-resolution method results in significant compute savings, improved response times, and enhanced NLP capabilities, making it suitable for real-time applications like voice assistants and customer service, despite its heavy infrastructure requirements. Read the full blog for free on Medium. Join thousands of data leaders on the AI newsletter. Join over 80,000 subscribers and keep up to date with the latest developments in AI. From research to projects and ideas. If you are building an AI startup, an AI-related product, or a service, we invite you to consider becoming a sponsor. Published via Towards AI