This AI dubbing company cuts production time by up to 90% with automated dubbing, quality checks

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Although we live in an era where video content crosses borders for distribution, language barriers remain. Producing dubbing for overseas viewers requires a complex process ranging from translation to voice actor recording, editing, and quality control. While AI (artificial intelligence) dubbing technology has emerged, human intervention is still needed to check and revise elements such as emotional expression, lip-sync accuracy, and sound effects.

Onion AI (AunionAI), a startup founded by Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST) faculty members, is focused on overcoming the limitations of existing AI dubbing technology. The company has developed technology that comprehensively analyzes scenes in videos, speakers' emotions, context, sound effects, and more to implement multilingual dubbing tailored to local cultures and environments.

Kim Hong-guk, CEO of Onion AI, explained, "Technology that considers the context, emotions, and sound effects of a scene together is our differentiating factor compared to existing AI," adding, "We have focused on enhancing the overall immersion of the video, going beyond simple translation and voice synthesis."

The company has also developed technology to automate quality control and error correction for AI-generated outputs. According to the company's internal verification, this can reduce production time by up to 90% and costs by up to 80% compared to traditional manual methods.

Onion AI was established in October 2023 to commercialize the voice technology that Kim (CEO) has researched for many years. Kim (CEO) is an expert with approximately 35 years of research and development experience in the voice and audio AI field, having worked at Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology and AT&T Labs in the United States. He also carried out various industry-academia collaboration projects with companies while at a university.

Onion AI's flagship product is the AI-based multilingual dubbing solution "Onion AI DUB Plus." When a video is input, the AI analyzes dialogue, speakers, emotions, and sound effects, then generates dubbed audio in other languages through translation, voice synthesis, and speech timing adjustment. It currently supports more than 10 languages.

The core of the technology lies in analyzing videos by scene rather than by sentence. Even with the same dialogue, the pitch, speaking speed, and emotional expression must differ between a tense chase scene and a calm conversation scene. Onion AI has developed "scene-aware" technology that reflects these characteristics in dubbing.

The system also corrects for differences in sentence length across languages. Translating English dialogue into Korean can result in sentences becoming longer or shorter, causing lip movements and audio to become misaligned. To solve this, the company applies technology that restructures translated sentences to match the speech timing of the original video. It has also developed technology to generate or reconstruct sound effects and spatial audio based on object and spatial information within the video.

In particular, a key differentiator emphasized by the company is its "Auto QA" (Automatic Quality Assurance) technology, where AI reviews and corrects dubbing created by AI. It identifies low-quality segments using metrics that evaluate voice naturalness and speech rhythm, as well as language model-based analysis.

Kim (CEO) explained, "When an error is detected, instead of re-producing the entire video, we regenerate only the problematic segment and re-evaluate its quality," adding, "This reduces the burden on humans who would otherwise have to find and correct errors one by one."

The company is also accelerating technology verification and commercialization. Onion AI tested its AI dubbing technology on more than 100 pieces of content through a proof of concept (PoC) with the video display (VD) business division of a major domestic conglomerate. It has also conducted real-world demonstrations in broadcasting, education, and public sectors, including Global Gwangju Broadcasting (GGN), Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), Suwon Education Support Office, and the Korea Tourism Organization, expanding the potential applications of its technology. The company participated in CES, the world's largest IT and home appliance exhibition, for two consecutive years last year and this year, and secured seed investment in July of this year after its technological capabilities were recognized.

Meanwhile, the company will compete as a GIST faculty Won Chang-eop-tim (CEO) in the finals of the "2026 K-Deep Tech Startup King of the Kings," to be held on the 30th at Hall B Plus Stage of COEX in Seoul Samsung-dong (Registration: https://forms.gle/McNBqdiBts8RJazVA).

Now in its fifth year, the King of the Kings competition is hosted by MoneyToday's startup media platform "Unicorn Factory" and co-hosted by KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology), DGIST (Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology), UNIST (Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology), GIST (Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology), POSTECH (Pohang University of Science and Technology), and KENTECH (Korea National University of Science and Technology).

The judging panel includes deep tech investment and commercialization experts from Samsung C-Lab Outside, GS Ventures, Ecopro Partners, L&S Venture Capital, LB Investment, Blue Point Partners, Series Ventures, CNTech, Korea Technology Holding, and the R&D Special Zone Promotion Foundation.

Participants range from corporate venture capital (CVC) of major conglomerates to deep tech-specialized venture capital firms, early-stage investment accelerators (AC), and public technology commercialization institutional investors, comprehensively evaluating the commercialization potential and investment appeal of the technologies.

The finals feature a total of 12 teams, with six each from the faculty-founded and student-founded startup categories. The event will be conducted in the format of actual investment recruitment investor relations (IR) presentations, with each team delivering a 10-minute presentation followed by a 10-minute Q&A session. Teams are evaluated based on a total score combining technology (30 points), marketability (20 points), business viability (40 points), and team capability (10 points).

The grand prize will be awarded to one team each from the faculty-founded and student-founded categories. The two grand prize-winning teams will receive the Minister's Award from the Ministry of Science and ICT, which is the Deputy Prime Minister's award, along with a cash prize of 3 million won. Four teams receiving the excellence award will be given the R&D Special Zone Promotion Foundation Lee (President) Award and a cash prize of 1 million won each, while six teams receiving the encouragement award will receive the MoneyToday CEO Award and a cash prize of 500,000 won each.

Winning teams will be provided with benefits such as connections to CVC open innovation programs and bonus points when participating in the Global Digital Innovation Network (GDIN) overseas expansion program. Regardless of whether they win an award, all 12 finalist teams will receive support for a one-year follow-up scale-up program, including corporate promotion, expert consulting, and networking with investment firms.

<Registration for the 5th K-Deep Tech Startup King of the Kings>

- Date: October 30 (Fri) 9:30~17:00

- Location: COEX Hall B PLUS STAGE, Seoul

- Target: Deep tech startups and investment VC reviewers

- Hosts: KAIST, DGIST, UNIST, GIST, POSTECH, KENTECH, MoneyToday Unicorn Factory

- Application : https://forms.gle/McNBqdiBts8RJazVA

[MoneyToday Startup Media Platform Unicorn Factory]