Otter AI expands to 31 languages with multilingual meeting transcription

Otter.ai will support 31 languages in total after its largest language expansion to date, adding 27 languages alongside a transcription feature that follows speakers as they switch languages mid-meeting. The company announced the update on Tuesday.

The new multilingual transcription mode detects language changes automatically and keeps transcribing without any adjustment from the user. A single call could move from English to Korean to Portuguese, and the transcript would follow the conversation through each switch.

The update targets a persistent problem for global teams, where mixed-language meetings make note-taking and collaboration harder than they need to be.

"Otter is breaking down language barriers so any company, no matter where they're based, can build a system of record for the decisions for voice AI communication," an Otter spokesperson told TechCrunch.

Which languages are available now?

Thirteen of the new languages are live today:

• Mandarin Chinese
• Korean
• German
• Italian
• Cantonese
• Portuguese
• Russian
• Indonesian
• Malay
• Dutch
• Turkish
• Vietnamese
• Polish

The remaining 14 languages are marked as coming soon. That second wave includes Swedish, Danish, Finnish, Arabic, Hindi, Thai, Hebrew, Norwegian, Greek, Macedonian, Persian, Czech, Hungarian, and Romanian.

Once the full rollout completes, the platform will reach 31 supported languages in total, a milestone for a company whose core product until recently centered on English-language meeting notes.

How were the models built?

The newly added languages run on Otter's own speech models rather than on third-party engines. The company told TechCrunch it trained these models using publicly available datasets.

To check accuracy, Otter worked with native-speaking volunteers who reviewed transcripts. That review step matters for a product whose value depends on the reliability of its written record.

The approach gives Otter direct control over how each language performs, which becomes more important as the company positions transcription as an entry point to a broader system of record for workplace communication.

Where does this fit in Otter's wider push?

The language announcement lands amid a wider expansion beyond transcription into workplace AI tools. Otter secured $320 million in funding from General Catalyst, capital that underwrites this product broadening.

Two recent features show the direction. Work Mode uses meeting history and connected apps to help users prepare for upcoming calls. It pulls information from previous customer conversations, outstanding action items, notes from teammates' similar calls, and recent Google Drive files.

Live Assist takes a different angle: it provides real-time coaching during meetings. The feature analyzes the conversation and offers suggestions based on what has already been discussed and what is happening in the moment.

Together, the three moves — multilingual transcription, preparation, and live coaching — sketch a platform that acts before, during, and after every meeting.

What does the expansion mean for international teams?

The core commercial logic is straightforward. A note-taking tool that fails in a bilingual meeting is useless to a large share of global companies, and Otter's automatic language switching removes the need to change settings or restart transcripts.

That positions the product for teams spread across regions where no single language covers every participant, and it widens the addressable market well beyond the English-speaking workplace.

Whether the 14 pending languages arrive on schedule will shape how quickly that market opens up.