VLC media player, a popular open-source software, has achieved a milestone of 6 billion downloads worldwide. At CES 2025, VideoLAN, the nonprofit organization behind VLC, showcased an innovative AI-powered subtitle system.
The new feature uses open-source AI models to automatically generate real-time subtitles for any video, without requiring internet connectivity or cloud services. The subtitles can also be translated into multiple languages. Although VideoLAN hasn’t announced a release date for this feature, it promises to enhance the user experience.
VLC’s success is notable, especially considering its commitment to remaining free, ad-free, and without data collection or commercial revenue streams. Despite the rise of streaming services, VLC’s active user base continues to grow, according to VideoLAN president Jean-Baptiste Kempf.