The Mark Cuban Podcast
Episode: Meta Acquires WaveForms: Why This Acquisition Changes Everything
Date: August 19, 2025
Host: Mark Cuban
Episode Overview
In this episode, Mark Cuban dives into Meta’s recent acquisition of Waveforms, an audio AI startup, unpacking how this deal signals a pivotal shift in the race for AI supremacy—especially around natural-sounding, emotionally intelligent voice technology. Cuban discusses both the rationale behind Meta’s aggressive push into voice AI, the background of Waveforms, and the broader implications for the future of AI-powered products like Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. Meta’s Aggressive Talent Acquisition Strategy
- Meta’s Mission: Mark highlights how Mark Zuckerberg is "offering like, for some AI researchers, billion dollar pay packages at best over like four years. These are very serious amounts of money."
- [02:00]
- Acqui-hiring as Strategy: With the cost of superstar researchers so high, Meta is “actually acquiring a whole bunch of companies... You can actually get some pretty impressive, impressive researchers for cheaper prices by just buying out their companies and bringing them on as part of the deal.”
- [02:55]
2. Waveforms: The Startup Making Waves
- Funding and Valuation:
- Waveforms raised $40 million in a round led by Andreessen Horowitz (A16Z) at a $160 million pre-money valuation, all in just eight months.
- [03:20]
- Waveforms raised $40 million in a round led by Andreessen Horowitz (A16Z) at a $160 million pre-money valuation, all in just eight months.
- Rapid Acquisition:
- “Eight months later, $160 million valuation and they're getting acquired. How did they do it? Who is this company?”
- [03:35]
- “Eight months later, $160 million valuation and they're getting acquired. How did they do it? Who is this company?”
- Background:
- Waveforms is Meta’s second significant audio AI acquisition—the previous being Play AI in early July.
- [04:10]
- Waveforms is Meta’s second significant audio AI acquisition—the previous being Play AI in early July.
3. The Team Behind Waveforms
- Star Founders:
- Alexis Kano: Former Meta and OpenAI researcher, co-founder of GPT-4o’s advanced voice mode and core neural net technology. “He actually co-founded GPT4O's advanced voice mode... the model that kind of took AI from talk and a little bit robotic and becoming very natural, he helped spearhead that.”
- [04:55]
- Coralie Lemitri: Former Google advertising strategist
- Cardi K: Chief technologist (status at Meta unconfirmed)
- Alexis Kano: Former Meta and OpenAI researcher, co-founder of GPT-4o’s advanced voice mode and core neural net technology. “He actually co-founded GPT4O's advanced voice mode... the model that kind of took AI from talk and a little bit robotic and becoming very natural, he helped spearhead that.”
- Staff & Outcomes:
- Concerns over team welfare in tech acquisitions: “We've seen couple deals... the co founders basically go on to the new company. Well, this happened with Google... and basically everybody else just gets left high and dry and the company dries up.”
- [06:10]
- Concerns over team welfare in tech acquisitions: “We've seen couple deals... the co founders basically go on to the new company. Well, this happened with Google... and basically everybody else just gets left high and dry and the company dries up.”
4. The Technology & Mission
- Mission Statement:
- Waveforms set out to “solve the ‘Speech Turing Test’—which tries to measure if a listener can tell between humans or AI generated speech.”
- [07:10]
- Waveforms set out to “solve the ‘Speech Turing Test’—which tries to measure if a listener can tell between humans or AI generated speech.”
- Market Need:
- “If you're trying to make a tool, you don't want people to be able to tell it's an AI... OpenAI has done a phenomenal job on their natural speech... Google... 11 Labs... But this would be huge if they really are able to... make them unable to determine if it's truly AI or not.”
- [07:30]
- “If you're trying to make a tool, you don't want people to be able to tell it's an AI... OpenAI has done a phenomenal job on their natural speech... Google... 11 Labs... But this would be huge if they really are able to... make them unable to determine if it's truly AI or not.”
5. Product Implications: Why Meta Needs This
- AI Voice for Meta Products:
- Integration into “Meta Ray Ban sunglasses” and Meta AI’s app, which competes with ChatGPT.
- “Right now it’s not incredible... you kind of need that [natural voice] as a feature today.”
- [08:35-09:15]
- Integration into “Meta Ray Ban sunglasses” and Meta AI’s app, which competes with ChatGPT.
- User Experience:
- “If it sounds like a robot talking to you, it's the same problem as Siri and Amazon Alexa before they kind of fixed it... you just don't really want to use it.”
- [09:20]
- “If it sounds like a robot talking to you, it's the same problem as Siri and Amazon Alexa before they kind of fixed it... you just don't really want to use it.”
6. Advanced AI Research
- Emotional General Intelligence:
- Waveforms was “developing something called ‘emotional general intelligence’… focused on understanding individual self awareness and management.”
- [10:00]
- Waveforms was “developing something called ‘emotional general intelligence’… focused on understanding individual self awareness and management.”
- Team Credibility:
- “People have worked on some of the really complicated problems in AI and audio today. So I think this is a no brainer for Meta to go and acquire.”
- [10:30]
- “People have worked on some of the really complicated problems in AI and audio today. So I think this is a no brainer for Meta to go and acquire.”
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
-
On Meta's AI Talent Arms Race:
- “Zuckerberg obviously is notorious right now as he's basically offering like, for some AI researchers, billion dollar pay packages at best over like four years. These are very serious amounts of money.” ([02:00])
-
On Waveforms’ Ambition:
- “Their mission is to solve the quote Speech Turing Test, which tries to measure if a listener can tell between humans or AI generated speech.” ([07:10])
-
On Product Integration:
- “I think of the Meta Ray Bans as one where you basically look through the Ray Bans and you can ask Meta AI about stuff that you're looking at... and Meta will talk to you in your ear... Now if it sounds like a robot... you just, you don't really want to use it.” ([08:45-09:25])
-
On the Deal’s Impact:
- “If it sold for anything like the recent valuation of $160 million, which I don't see why it wouldn't, probably more than that, then yeah, seems like a great outcome for everyone involved.” ([11:10])
Important Timestamps
- 02:00 — Meta’s billion-dollar AI researcher pay packages
- 03:20 — Waveforms’ $40M funding and $160M valuation
- 04:55 — Highlighting Alexis Kano’s background and GPT-4o contributions
- 06:10 — Concerns over staff outcomes in tech acquisitions
- 07:10 — Waveforms’ mission and “Speech Turing Test”
- 08:35 — Integration into Meta products (Ray-Ban sunglasses, Meta AI App)
- 10:00 — Emotional general intelligence research
- 11:10 — Final thoughts on deal valuation and impact
Tone & Language
Mark Cuban maintains an energetic, informed, and conversational style, mixing breaking news with direct analysis and commentary on the technology and business strategy at play.
Summary
This episode provides listeners with a deep dive into Meta’s strategy in the generative AI race—especially around acquiring elite talent and bleeding-edge startups like Waveforms. Cuban highlights the rapid valuation growth and acquisition of Waveforms, the profile of its founding team, and why hyper-realistic, emotionally intelligent AI voices are critical for Meta’s product roadmap. The episode underscores how high the competitive stakes are, and why these moves could reshape the AI landscape, especially in the consumer experience of AI-powered devices and platforms.