American programmer and creator of 15.ai
15 is an artificial intelligence researcher and programmer best known for creating the text-to-speech web application 15.ai . In the early 2020s, they gained international recognition for pioneering accessible audio deepfake technology and popularizing AI voice cloning in memes and content creation .[ 1] [ 2] [ 3]
Career
15 began developing deep learning speech synthesis technology in 2016 as part of the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology , where they demonstrated the ability to replicate advanced speech synthesis results with minimal training data.[ 4] [ 5] startup company was accepted into Y Combinator .[ 6] 15.ai in March 2020, which gained viral popularity in 2021.[ 7] ElevenLabs and Speechify , have acknowledged 15.ai's pioneering role in their field.[ 8] [ 9]
On December 13, 2021, 15 announced that they had "no interest in incorporating NFTs into any aspect of [their] work."[ 10] Voiceverse had used voice lines generated from 15.ai to create and sell an NFT without permission or attribution.[ 10] [ 11] [ 12] log files and finding evidence that Voiceverse had generated audio using 15.ai then manipulated it to disguise its origin, 15 publicly confronted Voiceverse on Twitter , ultimately responding with "Go fuck yourself" after Voiceverse confessed to the theft.[ 13] [ 10] [ 14] [ 6]
In May 2025, 15 launched 15.dev as a successor to 15.ai.[ 15]
References
^ Furushima, Takayuki (January 18, 2021). "『Portal』のGLaDOSや『UNDERTALE』のサンズがテキストを読み上げてくれる。文章に込められた感情まで再現することを目指すサービス「15.ai」が話題に" [Portal's GLaDOS and UNDERTALE's Sans Will Read Text for You. "15.ai" Service Aims to Reproduce Even the Emotions in Text, Becomes Topic of Discussion]. Den Fami Nico Gamer Archived from the original on January 18, 2021. Retrieved December 18, 2024 . ^ 遊戲, 遊戲角落 (January 20, 2021). "這個AI語音可以模仿《傳送門》GLaDOS講出任何對白！連《Undertale》都可以學" [This AI Voice Can Imitate Portal's GLaDOS Saying Any Dialog! It Can Even Learn Undertale]. United Daily News Archived from the original on December 19, 2024. Retrieved December 18, 2024 . ^ Abisola, Shojobi (January 3, 2025). "The MIT Project That Paved Way For Modern Voice AI" . Independent Archived from the original on February 27, 2025. Retrieved February 27, 2025 . ^ Kurosawa, Yuki (2021). "ゲームキャラ音声読み上げソフト「15.ai」公開中。『Undertale』や『Portal』のキャラに好きなセリフを言ってもらえる" [Game Character Voice Reading Software "15.ai" Now Available. Get Characters from Undertale and Portal to Say Your Desired Lines]. AUTOMATON Archived from the original on January 19, 2021. Retrieved December 18, 2024 . ^ Chandraseta, Rionaldi (January 21, 2021). "Generate Your Favourite Characters' Voice Lines using Machine Learning" . Towards Data Science . Archived from the original on January 21, 2021. Retrieved December 18, 2024 . ^ a b Temitope, Yusuf (December 10, 2024). "15.ai Creator reveals journey from MIT Project to internet phenomenon" . The Guardian Archived from the original on December 28, 2024. Retrieved December 25, 2024 . ^ Clayton, Natalie (January 19, 2021). "Make the cast of TF2 recite old memes with this AI text-to-speech tool" . PC Gamer Archived from the original on January 19, 2021. Retrieved December 18, 2024 . ^ Staniszewski, Mati (2024). "15.AI: Everything You Need to Know & Best Alternatives" . ElevenLabs Archived from the original on December 25, 2024. Retrieved December 18, 2024 . ^ Weitzman, Cliff (November 19, 2023). "15.ai: All about 15.ai and the best alternative" . Speechify Archived from the original on December 25, 2024. Retrieved December 31, 2024 . ^ a b c Innes, Ruby (January 18, 2022). "Voiceverse Is The Latest NFT Company Caught Using Someone Else's Content" . Kotaku Australia the original on July 26, 2024. Retrieved February 28, 2025 . ^ "Troy Bakerin tukema NFT-yhtiö kärähti – Kaupitteli ääninäyttelyä luvatta" [Troy Baker-backed NFT company sued – peddling voice acting without permission]. Muropaketti Archived from the original on May 25, 2022. Retrieved March 1, 2025 .^ Groth-Anderson, Magnus (January 19, 2022). "Troy Baker-støttet NFT-virksomhed indrømmer at have stjålet indhold" [Troy Baker-backed NFT company admits to stealing content]. Gamereactor Archived from the original on March 1, 2025. Retrieved March 1, 2025 . ^ Phillips, Tom (January 17, 2022). "Troy Baker-backed NFT firm admits using voice lines taken from another service without permission" . Eurogamer Archived from the original on January 17, 2022. Retrieved December 31, 2024 . ^ Ifram, Lauda (January 18, 2022). "Proyek NFT Troy Baker Ketahuan Mencuri Aset Suara AI Tanpa Seizin Pemiliknya" [Troy Baker's NFT Project Caught Stealing AI Voice Assets Without Their Owners' Permission]. Gamebrott (in Indonesian). Archived from the original on May 26, 2022. Retrieved September 12, 2025 . ^ Scotellaro, Shaun (May 19, 2025). "15.ai Returns With Pony Voice Creation as the Focus" . Equestria Daily . Retrieved May 19, 2025 .
