During an interview with The Verge on its Decoder podcast, Crunchyroll president Rahul Purini announced that the company is currently experimenting with generative A.I. for subtitling and closed captioning.
The testing aims to improve their processes to release subtitles in more languages closer to the Japanese release date of seasonal anime episodes.
The company is currently experimenting with generative A.I. to help users personalize their experience and find titles, as well as testing A.I. for various workflows within the company.
It released low-quality subtitles for the initial episode of The Yuzuki Family’s Four Sons TV anime in October 2023.
They later took down the episode due to widespread complaints about the subtitles on social media and Crunchyroll’s website.
The episode was reuploaded with updated subtitles a week later, with an explanation that they collaborated with the licensor of the series for the new subtitles.
Sony’s Funimation Global Group finalized the purchase of Crunchyroll from AT&T on August 9, 2021, following the initial announcement of the acquisition in December 2020.
The total purchase price amounted to US$1.175 billion, which was paid in cash upon closing.
Crunchyroll now features Funimation‘s home video releases.
