CES 2025: VLC media player previews real-time subtitles using AI

VLC, the popular open-source media player, has just hit a milestone—over six billion downloads. To celebrate, it’s introducing what might be one of the best use cases of AI by far: real-time subtitles.

Unveiled at CES 2025 by the nonprofit team at VideoLAN, this new AI-powered feature uses open-source models to generate subtitles on the fly for any video you throw at it.

It transcribes audio and translates it into your preferred language—no need for manual subtitle (or .srt file) downloads or third-party services.

One standout aspect of this feature is that it works completely offline. VLC says that it can generate these subtitles locally on your PC, in over 100 languages, without relying on an internet connection or cloud-based servers.

For those who’ve spent years downloading separate subtitle files or squinting at hard-to-read captions, this is a welcome upgrade.

As VLC’s Chief Marketing Officer Natacha Holtzhausser puts it, this isn’t just about adding subtitles—it’s about making content universally accessible, whether it’s movies, TV shows, lectures, or live streams.

This feature will reportedly be free. No word yet on whether it’ll stay that way forever, but for now, it’s a total game-changer for accessibility and inclusivity in the world of video consumption.