At CES 2025, the world-renowned Consumer Electronics Show held in Las Vegas from January 7–10, VLC, the popular open-source, cross-platform media player, introduced a groundbreaking new feature. This innovation can set VLC even further apart from its competitors, cementing its reputation as the go-to choice for media playback.
It’s a new AI feature currently in the early testing phase that enables VLC to generate real-time subtitles and translations in various languages. When VLC shared the news on its social media account on X, it quickly went viral, amassing over 700K views.
In VLC’s follow-up posts, you’ll find footage from Golden Globes 2020, when the presenter’s words are translated into Japanese and French and appear as real-time subtitles during the video playback (a feature similar to YouTube’s auto-generated subtitles).
Needless to say, this is impressive, offering millions of users the ability to break down language barriers and enjoy their favorite multimedia content in their preferred language. But that’s not all—the best part follows.
To ensure complete privacy and avoid any speculation, the new AI capability operates entirely locally on the user’s computer without relying on cloud or external services. It is built using an open-source AI model. However, at this time, VLC has not provided specific details about which LLM is being used.
Now, on to the main question: When can we finally expect this capability to arrive in VLC? Will it be included in the much-anticipated version 4.0 of the player? Unfortunately, there aren’t any clear answers at the moment.
As for VLC 4.0, this release has been in development for nearly four years and is one of the most eagerly awaited updates in the multimedia applications field. According to the developers, version 4.0 will be a completely revamped edition featuring an overhauled codebase and a redesigned interface.
The update promises a fresh, modern look and many new features. But when can we expect a final, stable release? That’s still up in the air. Judging by the number of unresolved issues in the 4.0 branch of the project’s Git repository, it doesn’t seem like it will happen anytime soon.
Rest assured, we’ll monitor the situation closely and, as always, update you as soon as new developments occur.
