GoKawiilDestined AI releases Hurston-1, open-source TTS model for accented English speech
Destined AI, a small Atlanta-based team, has released Hurston-1, an open-source text-to-speech model fine-tuned from Maya1 to handle Southern American, Nigerian, West African, East African, and Southern African English accents. The model includes a narrowband phone mode producing 8 kHz G.711 audio compatible with Twilio and other telephony systems, alongside a default 24 kHz full-audio mode. It was trained partly on consented, paid recordings collected from contributors since 2021.