Audio Generation App Huxe, Founded by Former NotebookLM Developers, Shuts Down

Huxe, an app created by the former developers of NotebookLM that enabled users to generate podcasts or podcast series on a variety of subjects, is set to cease operations. This announcement comes in light of Spotify’s recent introduction of a personal podcast feature with similar capabilities.

The startup has confirmed that it will remove the application from both the App Store and Play Store. Users currently utilizing the app will have one more week of access, after which the company will delete all related user data. The reason behind the shutdown has not been disclosed.

“We have decided to discontinue Huxe. The team is embarking on new opportunities, and further development of this product will not continue,” stated a message sent to users.

The consumer AI landscape is highly competitive, with startup products often being absorbed as features within larger companies. The trend of creating podcasts for educational purposes is following a similar trajectory. After NotebookLM brought this feature to prominence, major firms like Adobe, Amazon, ElevenLabs, Meta, and most recently Spotify have incorporated it in various ways. Google has also unveiled a feature to create podcasts based on users’ Discover feeds.

Founded in late 2024 by ex-Google team members Raiza Martin, Jason Spielman, and Stephen Hughes, Huxe raised $4.6 million in funding from Conviction, Genius Ventures, Figma CEO Dylan Field, and Google Research’s chief scientist Jeff Dean.

Other startups such as Oboe, established by the co-founders of Anchor and former Spotify executives, along with Sun, which participates in an a16z speedrun cohort, are aiming to build user bases centered around audio learning.

As AI technologies progress, their ability to convert content from one format to another—whether text to audio or audio to video—improves. Companies that focus on a single conversion method may face challenges in retaining long-term user engagement and revenue streams.

The swift pace at which companies are rolling out new features due to AI could significantly impact startups. For Huxe, the capability to create podcasts on specific topics has become a commonplace feature in many applications and services, making it difficult to scale their offering to a large audience willing to pay for it.