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Audible, the Amazon-owned audiobook giant, is deepening its embrace of artificial intelligence to revolutionise how books are consumed—especially in non-English-speaking markets.
In a strategic push to scale up its content catalogue, Audible is now working directly with U.S.-based publishers to convert print and e-books into AI-narrated audiobooks, CEO Bob Carrigan revealed in a recent interview.
The move is aimed at bridging what he called a “massive gap” between published books and available audiobooks.
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“Every book deserves to be heard in audio,” said Carrigan. “Audiobooks are the fastest-growing format in publishing, but only 2–5% of print and e-books are available in audio. Our goal is to close that gap.”
The company now offers publishers access to more than 100 AI-generated voices across English, Spanish, French, and Italian, with options for varying accents and dialects. These synthetic voices can be used to produce titles exclusively for Audible—at a better royalty rate—or for broader distribution beyond its platform.
In a forthcoming update, Audible also plans to introduce an AI-powered translation tool that will convert both text and audio into multiple languages, further enhancing accessibility and global storytelling.
“The opportunity to use AI to bring more storytelling to more people in more languages is a really exciting one,” Carrigan added.
While AI narration is not new to Audible, this initiative marks a more formalised partnership with traditional publishers. Audible previously allowed self-published authors in the U.S. to use AI narration. As of now, over 60,000 titles on the platform are marked as AI-narrated—up from 40,000 just a year ago.
Notably, Audible doesn’t allow AI-voiced audiobooks created with third-party tools to be uploaded. That restriction ensures that publishers looking to reach Audible’s vast audience must use the company’s own technology.
The announcement comes as Audible faces mounting competition from platforms like Spotify, which has recently added audiobooks to its streaming ecosystem. In response, Audible has been experimenting with new subscription models and royalty systems while expanding into new markets like Brazil.
Audible’s standard membership, which includes access to audiobooks and podcasts, is priced at $14.95 per month, and, according to Carrigan, membership levels are at an all-time high.
By integrating generative AI, Audible is not only reducing the production time and cost of audiobooks—it’s also democratising audio publishing for both established and independent authors and positioning itself at the frontier of a fast-evolving storytelling landscape.
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