AI ModelsSeptember 23, 2026

Google’s new Gemini voices can copy a person’s voice

That person must first read a consent line. No outside test has checked the safeguard.

Google launched two text-to-speech models in its Gemini API and AI Studio on September 23. Gemini 3.8 Flash TTS is built for expressive voices and characters, and Flash-Lite TTS for dubbing and voice agents at a lower price. Both can also clone a person’s voice.

By Deep-Tech ResearcherVOICE MODELS & SAFEGUARDS

Published: September 23, 2026, 20:50 CEST
Reading time: 5 min
Evidence: 10 sources · 5 primary

This story was generated by AI systems under the editorial rules of Silicon AI News and checked against the sources it links. Found a mistake? Email editor@siliconainews.com. How we report

In brief

Google released Gemini 3.8 Flash TTS and Flash-Lite TTS on September 23. The text-to-speech models speak more than 100 languages and cost about $0.54 to $0.81 per hour of audio until the end of the year. Both can clone a voice from a short sample after the voice’s owner records a consent statement.

New to this? Read it in simple words

Google released two new Gemini models that turn written text into speech.
They speak more than 100 languages. An hour of audio costs less than one dollar until the end of the year.
They can copy a person’s voice from a short recording. That person must first read a consent statement aloud.
Google says it marks the audio with a hidden watermark. Nobody outside Google has tested these protections yet.

Words to know

Text-to-speech: Technology that reads written text aloud in a synthetic voice.
Voice cloning: Making a synthetic voice that sounds like a real person.
Watermark: A hidden signal added to content that shows it was made by AI.

Two voice models, priced by the hour

The models turn written text into speech. Google’s documentation lists 130 languages for Flash and 101 for Flash-Lite. Developers can also describe a new voice in words, and the model designs it.

Google’s blog says the models offer more than 2,000 voices. Its developer documentation lists 30 studio voices plus hundreds of others.

Until December 31, Flash costs $9 and Flash-Lite $6 per million tokens of audio. One second of audio uses 25 tokens, so an hour costs about $0.81 or $0.54. Google says both prices double on January 1, 2027.

Google says the models will also come to its Enterprise API, to Gemini Notebook, and to Google Vids.

Sources1 2 4 6

01LANGUAGES100+

02PRICE PER HOUR$0.54–$0.81 TO DEC 31

03VOICE CLONINGAFTER A CONSENT RECORDING

04SAFEGUARDSNOT TESTED OUTSIDE GOOGLE

VOICE CHECK 04

Cheap, capable voices, with safeguards that only Google has described so far.

Prices double on January 1, 2027. Cloning in AI Studio is not offered in the EEA, the UK, Switzerland, India, Illinois, or Texas.

To clone a voice, a developer uploads 10 to 30 seconds of clean speech. The same speaker must also read a fixed consent statement aloud. An automatic check then compares that recording with the sample.

The consent statement exists in 30 language versions. A project can store up to 200 designed or cloned voices, and Google keeps them for one year.

Google’s blog says cloning in AI Studio is not available in Illinois, Texas, the European Economic Area, the UK, Switzerland, or India. It does not say why, and it is unclear whether the same limits apply in the API.

Google says every clip carries its SynthID watermark, and that cloned voices also carry C2PA content labels. Its documentation and model card do not describe these steps, and no outside test has checked them.

Sources1 3 5 7

Strong scores, and one conflict of interest

Artificial Analysis, an independent testing company, ranks Flash second in its voice arena, behind Cartesia’s Sonic 3.6. Flash is one point ahead of Alibaba’s Qwen-Audio-3.0, which is within the margin of error. Flash-Lite ranks sixth.

In the same company’s pronunciation test, Flash ranks first with 89.5 percent.

Google’s blog also cites first places in benchmarks run by Hume AI. One author of the blog, Alan Cowen, founded Hume. In January, TechCrunch reported that Google had hired him and his team.

A reporter at The Decoder found the accents convincing but heard an occasional high-pitched whine. In one clip, the voice also changed at the end.

Sources1 6 8 9 10

Sources

Every fact in this story comes from the sources below. Open them to check our work.

1
Primary source · September 23, 2026Gemini 3.8 text-to-speech says hello Google
2
Primary source · September 23, 2026Text-to-speech generation (TTS) Google AI for Developers
3
Primary source · September 23, 2026Voice replication Google AI for Developers
4
Primary source · September 23, 2026Gemini Developer API pricing Google AI for Developers
5
Primary source · September 15, 2026Gemini 3.8 Audio (Live, Live Extended Thinking, Flash TTS, Flash-Lite TTS) Google DeepMind
6
Research · September 23, 2026Google’s new Flash TTS models let you design AI voices from scratch using text descriptions The Decoder
7
Research · September 23, 2026Google’s new Gemini TTS models can clone a voice from 30 seconds of audio The Next Web
8
Research · September 2026Text to Speech Leaderboard Artificial Analysis
9
Research · January 22, 2026Google snags team behind AI voice startup Hume AI TechCrunch
10
Research · September 23, 2026Google launches Gemini 3.8 voice models with Hume founder Alan Cowen credited RuntimeWire

How we checked this story

We read Google’s blog post, developer documentation, pricing page, and model card, then compared The Decoder, The Next Web, and the Artificial Analysis leaderboard. Quality claims from Hume AI tests are Google’s own, and Hume’s founder co-wrote the post. The safeguards are Google’s description.

Story mapVOICE CHECK

How Gemini 3.8 Voices connects

Gemini Live Avatar
Gemini Live Avatar builds on Gemini’s speech models , connected to Gemini 3.8 Voices
Also in 1 other story
Gemini 4 Early Release
Gemini 4 Early Release next step after Google’s Gemini 3 models , connected to Gemini 3.8 Voices
Also in 1 other story
Voice Cloning
Gemini 3.8 Voices clones voices after a spoken consent , connected to Voice Cloning
Also in 1 other story
Voice Agents
Gemini 3.8 Voices Flash-Lite targets voice agents and dubbing , connected to Voice Agents
Also in 5 other stories
SynthID
Gemini 3.8 Voices watermarks every clip, Google says , connected to SynthID
Also in 3 other stories
Independent Benchmarks
Gemini 3.8 Voices second in an outside voice arena , connected to Independent Benchmarks
Also in 6 other stories

The story so far

Earlier stories on the same thread, oldest first.

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