Neil Zeghidour Co-founds Gradium, Secures Nvidia Investment for Voice AI
Algerian-origin researcher Neil Zeghidour has co-founded Gradium, a Parisian AI voice startup backed by Nvidia. His ambition for the company is to replace traditional keyboards with advanced voice technology.
Neil Zeghidour, a 35-year-old researcher of Algerian origin, has co-founded Gradium, a Parisian startup specializing in artificial intelligence voice technology. His company, Gradium, has secured significant backing, including investment from Nvidia, which joined its capital in July 2026 as part of a funding round that reached $100 million. Zeghidour's ambition for Gradium is to fundamentally change human-machine interaction by replacing traditional keyboards with advanced voice technology.
Zeghidour's career reflects a path of fundamental research and innovation. Following studies in financial mathematics and a PhD at Facebook's Parisian laboratory, he went on to Google Brain. There, alongside Olivier Teboul, he developed foundational technology for audio language models, capable of generating voice and music, which is now utilized in global applications like Suno, ElevenLabs, and OpenAI's vocal mode. Gradium's voice models are recognized for their rapid response times, reportedly operating in 50 milliseconds, a speed described as the fastest worldwide.
The company provides its models to developers globally, with applications already in use by companies like Renault for voice transitions in car podcast playlists. Gradium plans to expand its language coverage to approximately 60 languages, including Arabic. The emergence of Gradium and Neil Zeghidour's leadership highlights the continued contribution of the Algerian diaspora to global innovation in research and enterprise, reinforcing Algeria's image in the international scientific community.
