India’s Pocket FM is not shy about its ambitions; it wants to be the Netflix of audio. That means giving listeners endless binge-worthy audio series, each with hundreds of episodes tailored to their tastes. To pull that off, speed is everything. And for Pocket FM, that speed boost is coming from AI.
The Lightspeed-backed startup has rolled out a new AI toolset for its global network of writers. Think of it like a behind-the-scenes writers’ room that can tweak a story’s ending, turn paragraphs into snappy dialogue, or amp up the drama between characters, all at lightning pace.
Pocket FM already uses AI voice tech like ElevenLabs, but now it’s doubling down with its writing assistant called CoPilot. It can transform narrative passages into dialogue, perform “beat analysis” to keep stories engaging for specific genres, and even suggest background sound effects. Basic features like “shorten,” “expand,” and text-generation prompts are also baked in.
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Under the hood, Pocket FM has trained smaller AI models to keep track of character arcs, relationships, and story continuity. By analyzing thousands of hours of data, CoPilot knows exactly which twists keep listeners hooked and is not afraid to suggest them.
Pocket FM has also added localization tools that go beyond translation, swapping out names and cultural references so a story feels native in a new market. In Germany, where the company struggled at first, these tools boosted monthly in-app revenue to over $700,000 in June. Writer productivity jumped 50%, and the time to launch in a new market dropped from more than a year to under three months.
In the U.S., AI-assisted shows now account for 10% of total playtime and have pulled in $7 million in the past year, while slashing production costs by up to three times. The company now cranks out nearly 1,000 pilot episodes each month, banking on volume to find the next hit.
Beyond audio, and toward its own AI brain. Pocket FM is not stopping at audio dramas. It is experimenting with comic strip adaptations via its Pocket Toons platform and even teasing a jump into video. It is also building a large language model trained entirely on its library, aiming to replace its fleet of small AI models with a single powerhouse by next year.
The flipside of AI speed
But the AI push has not been without controversy. Over the past year, Pocket FM has laid off staff and contractors, and some writers say their earnings are shrinking. Critics also worry about “AI slop”, bland, formulaic content flooding recommendations and making it harder for listeners to find gems.
Pocket FM insists every story is screened for quality and originality by its AI moderation system before going live. The company frames AI as a productivity booster, not a replacement for creativity, arguing that the tech helps writers make targeted improvements instead of starting from scratch.
Still, in Germany, AI already writes more content than humans for certain shows, a trend that could grow as more tools roll out. That raises a big question: if AI makes it possible to pump out more shows than ever, will audiences ‘ and writers’ paychecks keep up?
