Start-up denies using tech to turn call centre accents ‘white’

A Silicon Valley start-up has developed technology that can change the accents of call centre workers in real time.

The company, Sanas, has said that its technology could overcome accent-based prejudice and reduce racist abuse faced by staff.

But some critics have called it a move in the wrong direction and say language diversity should be celebrated.

News site SFGATE accused Sanas of making the agents, many of whom are from the global south, “sound white”.

Sanas, which has reportedly received $32m in funding since June 2022, describes its technology as an accent translation tool.

A section on its website called “Demo” invites visitors to “hear the magic” by playing a recording of someone with an apparently South Asian accent reading a call centre script and then clicking a slider button which turns the speech into a slightly robotic sounding American accent.