{"slug": "block-unveils-dessa-a-speech-only-ai-model-built-for-real-time-laptop-use", "title": "Block unveils Dessa, a speech-only AI model built for real-time laptop use", "summary": "Block introduced Dessa on October 23rd, a full-duplex speech model trained from scratch on human conversation audio alone with no text training or pretrained model, led by AI researcher Ragavan Thurairatnam, who co-founded the earlier Toronto startup also named Dessa. Jack Dorsey pitched the model as a more natural way to interact with AI, and Block is opening early access to a small group of AI safety researchers. Block's demos show the intended real-time voice behavior on a laptop, testing whether a conversation-audio-only model can deliver natural voice interaction.", "body_md": "# Block unveils Dessa, a speech-only AI model built for real-time laptop use\n\n**Led by former Dessa co-founder Ragavan Thurairatnam, the Block research project is opening early access to a small group of AI safety researchers.**\n\n        By [Ryan Merket](https://runtimewire.com/author/ryan-merket)\n        · Published \n        · Updated \n\nPrimary source: [X](https://x.com/jack/status/2113697902916751661)\n\n## Why it matters\n\nDessa tests whether a model trained only on conversation audio can deliver natural, real-time voice interaction on a laptop. Block's demos show the intended behavior.\n\n[Jack Dorsey](https://x.com/jack/status/2113697902916751661) introduced Dessa on October 23rd as a full-duplex speech model from Block, pitching voice as a more natural way to interact with AI. The project is led by [Ragavan Thurairatnam](https://www.ivey.uwo.ca/scotiabank-digital-banking-lab/canada-fintech/infrastructure-services/dessa/), an AI researcher who co-founded the earlier Toronto startup named Dessa. Block says the new model was trained from scratch on human conversation audio alone, with no text training or pretrained model.…\n\nWhen you purchase through links in our articles, [we may earn a small commission](https://runtimewire.com/affiliate-monetization-standards). This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/block-unveils-dessa-a-speech-only-ai-model-built-for-real-time-laptop-use", "canonical_source": "https://runtimewire.com/article/block-dessa-speech-only-model", "published_at": "2026-10-23 23:46:14+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-10-24 03:10:07.242423+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["artificial-intelligence", "ai-safety", "ai-research", "natural-language-processing"], "entities": ["Block", "Dessa", "Ragavan Thurairatnam", "Jack Dorsey"], "also_reported_by": [], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/block-unveils-dessa-a-speech-only-ai-model-built-for-real-time-laptop-use", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/block-unveils-dessa-a-speech-only-ai-model-built-for-real-time-laptop-use.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/block-unveils-dessa-a-speech-only-ai-model-built-for-real-time-laptop-use.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/block-unveils-dessa-a-speech-only-ai-model-built-for-real-time-laptop-use.jsonld"}}