Gemini 3.8 TTS: Clone Any Voice in 30 Seconds, Live Now Google released two text-to-speech models on September 23 — Gemini 3.8 Flash TTS and Gemini 3.8 Flash-Lite TTS — available now as gemini-3.8-flash-tts and gemini-3.8-flash-lite-tts in Google AI Studio and the Gemini API, offering over 2,000 production-ready voices, natural-language voice design, and voice replication from a 30-second audio sample. Flash TTS supports 130 languages for long-form consistency, while Flash-Lite TTS covers 101 languages for high-volume workloads; voice replication requires a verbal consent recording, is restricted in the UK, EEA, Switzerland, Illinois, and Texas, and all generated audio carries SynthID watermarking. Simon Willison benchmarked the API at roughly 2.74 cents to generate 78 seconds of audio. Google shipped two text-to-speech models on September 23 that reframe what a voice API can do. Gemini 3.8 TTS — available today as gemini-3.8-flash-tts and gemini-3.8-flash-lite-tts — brings over 2,000 production-ready voices, a voice design tool that generates custom voices from plain English, and voice replication from a 30-second audio sample to the Gemini API https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/speech-generation . If your mental model of TTS is still “pick from a dropdown of 30 options,” this changes that significantly. Two Models, Two Jobs These are not the same model at different price points. They solve different problems, and choosing correctly matters for both quality and cost. Gemini 3.8 Flash TTS is built for quality. It supports 130 languages, handles complex multi-character dialogue, and maintains voice consistency across long-form audio without drifting — the kind of stability you need for an audiobook or a game with hours of NPC dialogue. Use it when the audio output represents your product directly. Gemini 3.8 Flash-Lite TTS is built for throughput. It covers 101 languages and is optimized for high-volume workloads — voice agents, dubbing pipelines, read-aloud features. Use it when cost-per-call matters more than maximum fidelity. Both are available now in Google AI Studio and the Gemini API https://blog.google/innovation-and-ai/models-and-research/gemini-models/gemini-3-8-text-to-speech/ . What Actually Changed with Gemini 3.8 TTS Previous TTS APIs gave you a list of voices. Gemini 3.8 TTS gives you a voice studio, and the difference is substantial for production use cases. Voice design lets you describe a voice in natural language and get back a persistent custom voice ID. “Warm baritone with a slight British accent” becomes a voice your app uses consistently across every request. You can store up to 200 custom voices per project — though voice IDs expire after a year, so archive your design prompts. Voice replication reconstructs a vocal identity from a 30-second audio sample. This is the feature studios have been waiting for: consistent character voices without recording sessions for every script change. However, Google requires a verbal consent recording and restricts this feature in the UK, EEA, Switzerland, Illinois, and Texas, so verify your deployment region before building around it. All generated audio receives SynthID watermarking for AI provenance transparency. Getting Started: API Quickstart The API uses a new Interactions endpoint at https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/v1beta/interactions . Here is a minimal working example in Python: python from google import genai import base64 client = genai.Client interaction = client.interactions.create model="gemini-3.8-flash-tts", input= { "type": "user input", "content": { "type": "text", "text": "Have a wonderful day ", "annotations": { "type": "speech metadata", "style": "cheerful and friendly" } } } , response format={"type": "audio"}, generation config={"speech config": {"voice": "Kore"} } with open "out.wav", "wb" as f: f.write base64.b64decode interaction.output audio.data The speech metadata annotation is where you direct performance — tone, pacing, emotion. You can also embed inline vocal tags in your text: