- Dia is a new 1.6 billion parameter text-to-speech model created by Nari Labs
- Built by just two engineers with zero funding but support from Google's TPU Research Cloud
- Fully open-source with Apache 2.0 license allowing commercial use
- Supports natural dialogue, emotional tones, and nonverbal cues like laughs and coughs
- Claims to rival Google's NotebookLM and surpass ElevenLabs and Sesame CSM-1B
- Available now for free download on GitHub and Hugging Face
- Requires about 10GB of VRAM and runs on PyTorch 2.0+ and CUDA 12.6
- English-only with voice cloning capabilities through audio conditioning
Who Created Dia and Why It Matters
Ever wanted AI voices that sound more human? A tiny startup called Nari Labs has built something that might change how we think about computer voices. Their new tool, Dia, is causing a stir among tech folks.
Dia wasn't created by a big company with lots of money. Instead, two regular people made it cuz they weren't happy with what was out there. Toby Kim, one of Dia's makers, said they "fell in love with NotebookLM's podcast feature" but wanted more control and freedom with the voices and scripts.
What's special about Dia? It's completely free and open for anyone to use or change. This is different from what companies like OpenAI launches API for ChatGPT's image generation and ElevenLabs do - they keep their best stuff locked up and charge money.
Kim says Dia is better than expensive options like ElevenLabs Studio and matches what Google's NotebookLM can do. That's a big deal for something built by just two people with "zero funding." They did get help from Google, tho, which let them use special computer chips called TPUs to train their AI.
The tech world is taking notice because Dia could change who gets to use good AI voices. Right now, as market meltdown stocks tumble and companies cut costs, having free alternatives to expensive AI tools becomes even more important.
What Makes Dia Special: Features and Capabilities
Dia isn't just another robot voice - it can do some pretty cool stuff that makes it special. Let's look at what sets it apart:
Natural Conversations Dia makes voices that sound like real people talking to each other. You can mark different speakers with tags like [S1] and [S2], and the AI knows who should be talking when. This is great for making podcasts, videos, or stories with multiple characters.
Real Emotions and Nonverbal Sounds Most AI voices just read words in a flat way. Dia is different - it can add:
- Laughter when you write (laughs)
- Coughing sounds when you write (coughs)
- Throat clearing when you write (clears throat)
- Different emotional tones based on what's happening
This makes a huge difference in how natural the voices sound. While tools from Microsoft's new AI agents focus on text capabilities, Dia is pushing boundaries in making machines sound human.
Voice Matching If you have a short clip of someone talking, Dia can try to match that voice style. This is called "audio conditioning" or "voice cloning." You upload a sample, and Dia will make new speech that sounds similar to your sample.
Flexible Usage Since Dia is open-source with an Apache 2.0 license, you can use it for:
- Personal projects
- Commercial products
- Research
- Adding voices to apps and games
- Accessibility tools
The team behind Dia specifically made it open so people could experiment and build on it, unlike what we see with Nvidia takes $55 billion hit from US sanctions which shows how closed technologies can be vulnerable to political decisions.
How Dia Compares to ElevenLabs, Sesame, and Others
Is Dia really better than the big names in AI voices? The creators put it to the test, and the results are pretty interesting.
Nari Labs compared Dia directly against ElevenLabs Studio (one of the most popular AI voice tools) and Sesame CSM-1B (another open-source option). They posted lots of examples on their website showing the differences.
Standard Dialogue Tests When given normal conversation scripts, Dia handled the timing between sentences more naturally. The biggest win was with expressions - when the script included something like (laughs), Dia actually produced laughing sounds. ElevenLabs and Sesame just said the word "haha" instead of making a laughing sound!
Emotional Range For scenes with strong feelings like fear or urgency, Dia kept the emotional energy going through the whole scene. The other tools often sounded flat or didn't change their tone enough to match what was happening in the story.
Handling Special Scripts Dia could even handle scripts that were mostly sounds - like a funny scene with just coughs, sniffs, and laughs. The other tools either skipped these parts or didn't know what to do with them.
Music and Rhythm Surprisingly, Dia can even handle rap lyrics while keeping the beat and flow! This is really hard for AI voices to do well. Most sound really stiff when trying to do anything musical.
As companies like Google's Gemini 2.5 Flash slashes AI costs work to make AI more affordable, Dia aims to remove cost barriers altogether by being completely free.
Technical Details: How to Use Dia
Wanna try Dia for yourself? It's not super simple, but if you know a bit about computers, you can make it work. Here's what you need to know:
Where to Get It Dia is available in two main places:
- GitHub: For developers who want the full code
- Hugging Face: For a simpler way to download just the model
There's also a Hugging Face Space where you can try generating speech without installing anything. If you're not technical but curious, this is your best option.
What Your Computer Needs Dia isn't tiny - it needs some decent hardware:
- About 10GB of video memory (VRAM)
- A good graphics card (GPU) that supports CUDA 12.6
- PyTorch 2.0 or newer
On a good setup like an NVIDIA A4000 graphics card, Dia can generate about 40 tokens (words or parts of words) per second. That's fast enough for most projects!
The team is working on versions that:
- Work on CPUs (regular computer processors)
- Need less memory (quantized versions)
If you're worried about warnings of economic fallout prompt cuts to tech spending, open-source tools like Dia offer a way to keep innovating without big budgets.
Using Dia Nari Labs provides both:
- A Python library for programmers
- A command-line tool for simpler usage
They also mention they're working on a more user-friendly consumer version. You can sign up for early access through their website if you want something easier to use when it's ready.
Real-World Applications for Dia
What can you actually do with Dia? Turns out, quite a lot! The ability to create natural-sounding dialogue opens up many possibilities across different fields.
Content Creation
- Podcasts: Create multi-person shows without recording multiple people
- YouTube videos: Add voice-overs without hiring voice actors
- Audiobooks: Turn text into engaging audio with different character voices
- Game development: Add dialogue to indie games on a budget
Accessibility Tools
- Screen readers with more natural voices
- Reading aids for people with dyslexia or visual impairments
- Converting text content for people who learn better by listening
Business Applications
- Customer service voice bots that sound less robotic
- Training videos and demonstrations
- Presentations and sales materials
Language Learning
- Creating dialogue examples in different accents
- Pronunciation guides that sound natural
- Converting written lessons to spoken ones
As we see with SWiRL is making the case for expert-level AI in business, AI tools that can handle complex tasks like natural speech are changing what's possible for businesses and creators.
The best part is that Dia can be used commercially under its Apache 2.0 license. This means small businesses and independent developers can build products with it without paying expensive API fees to companies like ElevenLabs or OpenAI.
The Ethics and Limitations of Dia
Creating super-realistic AI voices comes with some important questions. The Nari Labs team seems aware of this and has set some ground rules.
What You Shouldn't Do with Dia Nari Labs specifically prohibits:
- Impersonating real people without permission
- Spreading false information
- Using it for illegal activities
These rules make sense when you think about the potential misuse of voice technology. Deepfakes are already a problem, and tools like Dia could make them even more convincing if used irresponsibly.
Current Limitations Dia isn't perfect yet. Some things to know:
- It only works in English right now
- It needs decent computing power
- Each run produces different voices unless you "fix" the settings
- The voice cloning feature is basic compared to specialized tools
But even with these limits, Dia represents a big step forward for open AI voice technology. While Mark Zuckerberg's FTC trial testimony shows big tech facing regulation, open-source projects like Dia offer transparent alternatives with community oversight.
Community Involvement Despite being built by just two people (one full-time, one part-time), Dia is designed as a community project. The team:
- Has an active Discord server for discussions
- Welcomes contributions through GitHub
- Shares their development process openly
This open approach contrasts with closed AI systems and creates more trust through transparency.
The Future of Dia and Open-Source AI Voice Technology
What happens next with Dia? The technology is just getting started, but it already points to some interesting possibilities for the future.
Planned Improvements Nari Labs has mentioned several features they're working on:
- CPU support for computers without powerful graphics cards
- Smaller versions that need less memory
- A consumer-friendly interface for non-technical users
- Possibly more languages beyond English
These improvements would make Dia accessible to even more people and uses.
Potential Impact on the Industry Dia could shake up the AI voice market in several ways:
- Pushing commercial providers to improve quality
- Lowering costs across the board
- Speeding up innovation through open collaboration
- Democratizing access to high-quality voice synthesis
As Trump's tariffs: how low-cost tech discussions highlight concerns about technology costs, open-source alternatives like Dia become increasingly important for keeping innovation accessible.
Beyond Voices The techniques used in Dia might inspire other types of AI tools:
- More natural singing synthesis
- Better processing of speech input (the reverse of TTS)
- New ways to handle dialogue in chatbots and assistants
The intersection of text, speech, and emotion is a rich area for exploration, and Dia opens up new paths for researchers and builders.
The most exciting thing about Dia is that it puts advanced AI voice technology in the hands of regular people. Just a few years ago, this kind of capability was only available to large companies with big research budgets.
How You Can Get Started with Dia Today
Ready to try Dia for yourself? Here's a simple guide to getting started, whether you're a tech expert or just curious.
For Non-Technical Users:
- Visit the Hugging Face Space demo to try Dia without installation
- Type in text with speaker tags like [S1] and [S2]
- Add emotion cues like (laughs) or (worried)
- Generate and listen to the output
- Sign up for the consumer version waitlist if you want an easier tool later
For Developers:
- Check system requirements (10GB VRAM, CUDA support)
- Download from GitHub or Hugging Face
- Install the Python dependencies
- Run the example scripts to test functionality
- Integrate with your existing projects using the Python library
For Content Creators:
- Start with simple dialogue scripts to test capabilities
- Experiment with different emotional tones
- Try the audio conditioning feature with voice samples
- Consider how Dia might replace or supplement your current voice production
The community around Dia is growing, with discussions happening on their Discord server. Joining these conversations can help you learn more about best practices and future developments.
Even with global events like Paris peace talks: US, Ukraine, and dominating headlines, technological developments like Dia continue to create new opportunities for creators and businesses worldwide.
Frequently Asked Questions
What makes Dia different from other text-to-speech models? Dia specializes in naturalistic dialogue with emotional range and nonverbal cues. Unlike many commercial alternatives, it can generate realistic laughs, coughs, and other expressions when prompted. It's also completely open-source and free to use commercially.
Do I need special hardware to run Dia? Yes, Dia currently requires a GPU with about 10GB of VRAM and CUDA 12.6 support. However, the team is working on CPU support and optimized versions that will require less powerful hardware.
Can Dia clone specific voices? Dia supports audio conditioning, which means you can provide a sample clip to influence the voice style and tone. While not as specialized as dedicated voice cloning tools, it can capture some voice characteristics from samples.
Is Dia available in languages other than English? Currently, Dia only supports English. The developers haven't announced a timeline for additional language support, but as an open-source project, community contributions might help expand language capabilities.
Can I use Dia for commercial projects? Yes, Dia is released under the Apache 2.0 license, which allows commercial use. This makes it an attractive option for businesses and independent developers who want to avoid subscription fees for commercial TTS services.
How does Dia compare to Google's NotebookLM podcast feature? According to Dia's creators, their model rivals the quality of Google's NotebookLM podcast feature while offering more control over voices and scripts. NotebookLM's feature is part of a closed ecosystem, while Dia is fully open and customizable.
Are there any ethical restrictions on using Dia? Yes, Nari Labs prohibits using Dia for impersonating individuals without consent, spreading misinformation, or engaging in illegal activities. As with any AI tool, users should consider the ethical implications of their applications.
Will there be a user-friendly version for non-technical people? Yes, Nari Labs is developing a consumer version aimed at casual users who want to create and share generated conversations without technical knowledge. You can join their waitlist for early access when it becomes available.