VLC Media Player Achieves 6 Billion Downloads, Announces Development of AI-Generated Subtitles Feature

VLC tops 6 billion downloads, previews AI-generated subtitles

VLC media player, the popular open-source software developed by nonprofit VideoLAN, has reached a major milestone with over 6 billion downloads worldwide. The platform also announced that it is working on an innovative new feature: AI-powered subtitles.

According to reports, the new feature will automatically generate real-time subtitles for any video using open-source AI models that run locally on users’ devices. This means that users can access subtitles without needing internet connectivity or cloud services.

VideoLAN demoed this technology at CES 2025 and did not provide a specific timeline for when the feature would be rolled out. However, the company’s president Jean-Baptiste Kempf confirmed in a LinkedIn post that the number of active VLC users is actually growing, despite the rise of streaming services.

VLC has been a free and ad-free media player since its inception in 1996 as a project by students at Ecole Centrale Paris. Despite being an open-source platform, VLC has managed to maintain a strong user base across multiple operating systems, without resorting to advertising, data collection, or commercial revenue streams.

In a tweet, VideoLAN announced the AI-powered subtitles feature and showcased its potential in real-time, highlighting its support for numerous languages.

Source: techcrunch.com