Together AI Launches Speech-to-Text: High-Performance Whisper APIs

This post announces the launch of Together AI's Speech-to-Text (STT) APIs, featuring a high-performance deployment of Whisper V3 Large. Key technical contributions include optimizations to the Whisper model for maximized GPU utilization, smart voice activity detection using Silero for precise audio segmentation, and intelligent chunking/batching strategies for handling long audio files. These optimizations result in transcription speeds 15x faster than OpenAI, with the ability to process files over 1GB and 30+ minute calls without chunking. The API offers superior word-level alignment, comprehensive language support (50+ languages), dedicated endpoints for sub-second processing, and batch processing capabilities. The post also highlights the cost-effectiveness of the offering at $0.0015 per audio minute and provides Python SDK examples for integration.