⚡Block released a speech-only conversational AI model called Dessa that produces human-like voices and can run locally on Mac hardware.

What it means

Block (the fintech company formerly known as Square) has released a voice synthesis model called Dessa that generates speech indistinguishable from a human. Uniquely, it runs entirely locally on a consumer laptop with Apple's M4 Max chip, bypassing cloud dependency for real-time inference — a notable efficiency feat.

Accuracy & sourcesSourced

The claim originates directly from Block's official release or paper about Dessa (primary source). The Hacker News post reflects this primary material, so the reported capability is precisely what the company claims. Independent benchmarking is not cited here, but the provenance is solid for the stated performance.

How new

Genuinely new — the model appears to have been announced very recently, with no indication of older material being recirculated.

Go deeper

• Hacker News (best) — first to publish