VLC unveils offline AI subtitling and translation at CES 2025

At CES 2025, the renowned open-source media player VLC showcased a game-changing feature: automatic AI-powered subtitling and translation, capable of running locally and offline in real-time. The announcement came as VideoLAN, the organisation behind VLC, celebrated a milestone of over 6 billion downloads.

VideoLAN President Jean-Baptiste Kempf demonstrated the new feature on the CES show floor. “At the same time, we have automatic translation working to translate the subtitles to your own language,” Kempf explained. The feature, which supports more than 100 languages, operates entirely on the user’s device without relying on cloud services. “It runs directly inside the executable,” Kempf added, underscoring the privacy-first approach of the technology.

The subtitling system leverages open-source AI models to generate and translate subtitles for video content in real-time. Unlike earlier efforts using plug-ins like OpenAI’s Whisper, this new feature is seamlessly integrated into the VLC application. However, no timeline has been provided for its public release.

This announcement coincides with VideoLAN’s celebration of a major milestone - 6 billion VLC downloads worldwide. Kempf noted the enduring relevance of VLC despite the rise of streaming services: “The number of active users of VLC is actually growing, even in this age of streaming services.”

With CES 2025 in full swing, VLC’s demonstration of AI subtitling and translation adds another feather to its cap as a pioneer in media technology. The feature promises to make video content more accessible across linguistic barriers while maintaining user privacy through its offline functionality.