Google's DeepMind has acquired Hume AI's CEO and several top engineers through an licensing agreement, aiming to enhance its Gemini's voice capabilities. The artificial intelligence industry is increasingly viewing voice technology as the next frontier of development. Hume AI has raised nearly $80 million and will continue to license its empathy voice technology to other companies. This acquisition continues the trend of major AI companies like Google and OpenAI bypassing full acquisitions to acquire top talent, a practice currently under review by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC). This move highlights the growing investment in the voice AI field, with companies like Meta and OpenAI actively advancing audio features for wearable devices and systems.