LiveKit has raised $100 million at a $1 billion valuation, marking a major milestone for real-time voice and video infrastructure as AI moves from text-first interfaces to conversational, low-latency experiences. Led by Index Ventures, the round underscores how foundational infrastructure is emerging as one of the most valuable layers in the AI stack.
LiveKit powers OpenAI’s ChatGPT voice, alongside enterprise and mission-critical deployments at Salesforce, Tesla, xAI, and emergency services, placing it at the intersection of consumer AI, enterprise software, and public safety. As AI systems increasingly need to listen, speak, and respond in real time, latency is no longer a technical detail it’s a product-defining constraint.
What sets LiveKit apart is its focus on developer-first, real-time primitives that can scale across use cases from AI assistants and customer support to autonomous systems and emergency response. This positions the company less as a feature provider and more as critical infrastructure, similar to how cloud computing or payments APIs became indispensable in earlier tech cycles.
The timing is significant. As voice becomes the next major AI interface, companies need reliable, low-latency systems that can handle scale, security, and global distribution. Building this in-house is expensive and complex, making infrastructure specialists like LiveKit natural consolidation points in the ecosystem.
From a strategic lens, the funding reflects investor confidence that real-time AI will define the next phase of human–machine interaction, and that the winners will be those enabling others to innovate faster. LiveKit’s growing customer base suggests it is becoming a default layer for teams building voice-first and multimodal AI products.
As AI shifts from “answers” to conversations, LiveKit’s infrastructure play positions it squarely at the core of how AI will be experienced spoken, instant, and always on.
