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15 (software engineer)

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15
15 at Everfree Northwest in 2025
Born1998 or 1999 (age 26–27)
EducationMassachusetts Institute of Technology (BS, MS)
OccupationsSoftware engineer, computer scientist
Notable work15.ai
Twitch information
Channel
X information
Handle
Website15.dev Edit this at Wikidata

15 is a software engineer and computer scientist. He is best known for creating the text-to-speech website 15.ai, which is credited with popularizing AI voice cloning,[1][2] and his subsequent role in the Voiceverse NFT plagiarism scandal, in which an NFT company called Voiceverse plagiarized 15.ai in an attempt to market their partnership with voice actor Troy Baker.[3][4][5][6] The pseudonym 15 is a reference to his claim that 15 seconds of speech is sufficient to clone a voice up to human standards, which was later corroborated by OpenAI.[7][8]

Education and career

15's ponysona was the mascot of the 15.ai website

15 attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,[9][10][11] where he received degrees in physics, computer science, and mathematics. His thesis was on quantum pseudo-telepathy in nonlocal game theory.[12] As an undergraduate at MIT, he began developing voice AI technology,[9][13] having been inspired by Google DeepMind's WaveNet paper.[8] In 2019, he co-founded an analytics startup that was accepted into Y Combinator, after which he moved to Silicon Valley rather than pursue a planned PhD. He later left the company, and returned to his speech synthesis research. He was subsequently employed as chief technology officer at other YC companies.[12]

In March 2020, 15 released 15.ai as a free, non-commercial web application that allowed users to generate speech in the voices of fictional characters.[10] The website became an international viral sensation in 2021, with various news outlets reporting its role in popularizing voice cloning in memes and content creation,[14][15][16][17] and drew attention from AI commentators such as Andrew Ng[10] and Tyler Cowen.[18]

In January 2022, 15 revealed on X that the blockchain company Voiceverse had plagiarized from 15.ai. Within an hour of being confronted, Voiceverse confessed and stated that their marketing team had used 15.ai without proper attribution while rushing to create a technology demo. In response, 15 replied "Go fuck yourself"; the interaction went viral and garnered a large amount of support for the developer.[19]

Personal life

15 is a frequent attendee of furry and brony conventions.[12]

References

  1. ↑ Wright, Steven (March 21, 2023). "Why Biden, Trump, and Obama Arguing Over Video Games Is YouTube's New Obsession". Inverse. Archived from the original on December 20, 2024. Retrieved December 18, 2024.
  2. ↑ Weitzman, Cliff (November 19, 2023). "15.ai: All about 15.ai and the best alternative". Speechify. Archived from the original on December 25, 2024. Retrieved December 31, 2024.
  3. ↑ Williams, Demi (January 18, 2022). "Voiceverse NFT admits to taking voice lines from non-commercial service". NME. Archived from the original on January 18, 2022. Retrieved December 18, 2024.
  4. ↑ Phillips, Tom (January 17, 2022). "Troy Baker-backed NFT firm admits using voice lines taken from another service without permission". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on January 17, 2022. Retrieved December 31, 2024.
  5. ↑ Innes, Ruby (January 18, 2022). "Voiceverse Is The Latest NFT Company Caught Using Someone Else's Content". Kotaku Australia. Archived from the original on July 26, 2024. Retrieved October 5, 2025.
  6. ↑ Bailey, Jonathan (November 17, 2025). "A Retrospective on the Voiceverse Plagiarism Scandal". Plagiarism Today. Archived from the original on November 17, 2025. Retrieved November 20, 2025.
  7. ↑ Abisola, Shojobi (January 3, 2025). "The MIT Project That Paved Way For Modern Voice AI". Independent. Archived from the original on February 27, 2025. Retrieved February 27, 2025.
  8. 1 2 Temitope, Yusuf (December 10, 2024). "15.ai Creator reveals journey from MIT Project to internet phenomenon". The Guardian. Lagos, Nigeria. Archived from the original on December 28, 2024. Retrieved December 25, 2024.
  9. 1 2 Kurosawa, Yuki (2021). "ゲームキャラ音声読み上げソフト「15.ai」公開中。『Undertale』や『Portal』のキャラに好きなセリフを言ってもらえる" [Game Character Voice Reading Software "15.ai" Now Available. Get Characters from Undertale and Portal to Say Your Desired Lines]. AUTOMATON (in Japanese). Archived from the original on January 19, 2021. Retrieved December 18, 2024.
  10. 1 2 3 Ng, Andrew (April 1, 2020). "Voice Cloning for the Masses". DeepLearning.AI. Archived from the original on December 28, 2024. Retrieved December 22, 2024.
  11. ↑ Lamorlette, Robin (January 25, 2021). "Insolite : un site permet de faire dire ce que vous souhaitez à GlaDOS (et à d'autres personnages de jeux vidéo)" [Unusual: A Site Lets You Make GLaDOS (and Other Video Game Characters) Say Whatever You Want]. Clubic (in French). Archived from the original on January 19, 2025. Retrieved March 23, 2025.
  12. 1 2 3 "About me". 15.dev. Retrieved July 5, 2026.
  13. ↑ Chandraseta, Rionaldi (January 21, 2021). "Generate Your Favourite Characters' Voice Lines using Machine Learning". Towards Data Science. Archived from the original on January 21, 2021. Retrieved December 18, 2024.
  14. ↑ Clayton, Natalie (January 19, 2021). "Make the cast of TF2 recite old memes with this AI text-to-speech tool". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on January 19, 2021. Retrieved December 18, 2024.
  15. ↑ Morton, Lauren (January 18, 2021). "Put words in game characters' mouths with this fascinating text to speech tool". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Archived from the original on January 18, 2021. Retrieved December 18, 2024.
  16. ↑ Ruppert, Liana (January 18, 2021). "Make Portal's GLaDOS And Other Beloved Characters Say The Weirdest Things with This App". Game Informer. Archived from the original on January 18, 2021. Retrieved December 18, 2024.
  17. ↑ Zwiezen, Zack (January 18, 2021). "Website Lets You Make GLaDOS Say Whatever You Want". Kotaku. Archived from the original on January 17, 2021. Retrieved December 18, 2024.
  18. ↑ Cowen, Tyler (May 12, 2022). "The most underrated talent in AI?". Marginal Revolution. Archived from the original on May 12, 2022. Retrieved September 24, 2025.
  19. ↑ Wright, Steve (January 17, 2022). "Troy Baker-backed NFT company admits to using content without permission". Stevivor. Archived from the original on January 17, 2022. Retrieved October 5, 2025.
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