Huxe: New App from Ex-NotebookLM Developers Uses Audio to Streamline News and Research

Google's AI-powered note-taking and research assistant, NotebookLM, enjoyed an exceptional reception at launch. It captured widespread attention with its ability to produce quick summaries and reports, and to transform dense documents into AI-hosted "podcasts" that discuss topics to aid user research.

Inspired by the project's success, three developers who worked on NotebookLM from the beginning are now creating an audio-first application named Huxe. This app similarly allows users to explore topics in depth by generating a "podcast" featuring multiple AI hosts. The startup announced on Tuesday that it secured $4.6 million in funding from Conviction, Genius Ventures, Figma CEO Dylan Field, and Google Research's chief scientist, Jeff Dean.

The app launched on an invite-only basis in June and is now publicly available on iOS and Android.

Raiza Martin, along with Jason Spielman and Stephen Hughes, departed Google in December 2024 to pursue their own concepts. They first introduced a chatbot geared more toward B2B applications but later chose to target the consumer market. In March 2025, they developed a personal assistant capable of generating personalized images, videos, and audio.

"During this phase, we discovered that users appreciated the feature to generate audio on various subjects. We also noticed that people frequently used the app at specific times, such as for their daily brief or to catch up on news while preparing for the day," Martin told TechCrunch.

This observation prompted the trio to focus on audio and develop Huxe.

Huxe essentially provides a daily briefing by analyzing your incoming emails and connecting to your calendar to understand your schedule. It also enables you to explore topics and, much like NotebookLM, generates a podcast with AI hosts discussing the subject. You can interact with these AI hosts at any time, ask questions about the topic, or request them to clarify points differently.

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What sets Huxe apart is its feature allowing users to create a "live station" for any topic, such as tech news, sports, or celebrity gossip. After listening to a station, the app provides updates by drawing from various sources, which is particularly useful for tracking breaking news. There's also a personalized interest feed that automatically generates audio content tailored to your preferences.

Martin noted that during NotebookLM's early days, a group of power users significantly influenced product feedback, and Huxe is showing similar patterns.

"This product is ideal for individuals who spend their entire day in front of screens with numerous browser tabs open. Those wanting to catch up on emails, schedules, and news can do so without having to look at their screen," she explained.

While Huxe is currently geared toward the information market, entertainment represents another potential use case. For instance, India-based audio companies like Pocket FM and Kuku FM utilize AI to enable users to create content. Huxe isn't alone in adopting audio as a medium; other startups such as ElevenLabs and Oboe, alongside tech giants like Google and Meta, are also leveraging audio.