Audible Expands Catalog with AI Narration and Translation for Publishers

Audiobooks are the fastest-growing format in publishing, yet of the millions of books published today, only a fraction are available in audio. For decades, Audible has worked to expand the audiobook category, and every day we hear from creators looking to make new content available as well as listeners looking for more stories in their local languages. Now, through select partnerships with publishers, we are bringing new audiobooks to life through our own fully integrated, end-to-end AI production technology.

“Audible believes that AI represents a momentous opportunity to expand the availability of audiobooks with the vision of offering customers every book in every language, alongside our continued investments in premium original content,” said Bob Carrigan, CEO, Audible. “We’ll be able to bring more stories to life — helping creators reach new audiences while ensuring listeners worldwide can access extraordinary books that might otherwise never reach their ears.”

Fully Integrated AI Narration Solutions

Audible’s integrated AI narration technology combines our nearly thirty years of experience producing exceptional audio stories with Amazon’s advanced AI capabilities. In the coming months, interested publishing partners will be able to choose one of two pathways to production:

• Audible-managed, end-to-end production: Through our end-to-end service, Audible handles the entire audiobook production process for selected titles, managing every step from initial text ingestion to published audiobook.
• Self-service production: Publishers access the same underlying technology while directing their own production process, independently producing high-quality audiobooks.

Across both pathways, publishers can choose from a quickly growing and improving selection of more than 100 AI-generated voices across English, Spanish, French, and Italian with multiple accent and dialect options, and will be able to access voice upgrades for their titles as our technology evolves.

Coming Soon in Beta: Translation

As we expand our global audience for audiobooks, we’ll also begin rolling out AI translation in beta later in 2025, allowing select publishers to bring their audiobooks to international audiences in their local languages. We’re developing support for translations from English to Spanish, French, Italian and German, which we’ll begin to roll out throughout this year. Publishers can opt for human review from professional linguists to ensure translation accuracy and cultural nuance, and will be able to review the translations themselves in our text editor.

Audible will offer two translation pathways: text-to-text translation for manuscripts (after which publishers can select either professional or AI narration), and speech-to-speech translation that preserves original narrators' voice and style across languages. Our audiobook experts will help guide publishers to identify ideal titles from their catalogs, creating new opportunities to connect stories with listeners worldwide.

Looking Ahead

As we evolve our AI narration and translation capabilities, Audible remains committed to working closely with authors, narrators, and publishers to ensure these technologies meet their creative and business needs while maintaining the quality standards our listeners expect. Our roadmap includes expanding our offerings across more languages, accents and unique character performances to serve increasingly diverse global audiences and unlock new creative possibilities.

Publishers interested in learning more about AI narration and translation can reach out to their Audible representatives. We look forward to collaborating with our partners to expand customer selection thoughtfully, bringing stories to new audiences in their local languages and creating meaningful new opportunities for storytellers and listeners alike.