Popular open-source media player VLC announced an AI feature for real-time offline captioning at CES 2025, sparking a lot of interest. At the same time, the software is celebrating a new and impressive milestone in download numbers.
AI revolution for film fans
VLC Media Player, known for its versatility and ease of use, is making quite a splash at CES 2025. The open source software presents an innovative function that could change the film experience, especially when enjoying foreign language films and series: AI-generated subtitles in real time – completely offline.
How TechCrunch reported, VideoLAN demonstrated the new function at CES. Visitors to the exhibition stand were able to see for themselves the performance of the system, which generated subtitles in various languages such as Hebrew, German, Japanese and French.
This innovation allows users to receive subtitles for any video in real time and also translate them directly into different languages. What’s special about it, as already mentioned, is that the feature works completely offline and uses local open source AI models.
This not only ensures privacy protection, but also makes use independent of an internet connection. This opens up new possibilities for language learners, cineastes and everyone who enjoys watching international films and series. Videos can be enjoyed in the desired language without having to resort to external services.
Milestone: Six billion downloads
In addition to the AI innovation, the VLC team has another reason to celebrate: the media player recently surpassed the six billion download mark worldwide. This underlines the continued popularity and relevance of the software. Jean-Baptiste Kempf, President of VideoLAN, emphasized in one LinkedIn post:
The number of active users of VLC is actually growing, even in this age of streaming services. Jean-Baptiste Kempf, President of VideoLAN
A remarkable achievement considering the strong competition from commercial providers. Despite its success, VLC sticks to its ad-free model that doesn’t collect data. Unlike many open source projects that rely on donations, VideoLAN manages to maintain its free offering without compromise.
By the way, the roots of the VLC media player go back to 1996, when students at the École Centrale Paris started the project as an academic network video streaming experiment. Since then, VLC has become one of the most used media players worldwide.
