{
  "id": "whisper",
  "name": "Whisper",
  "category": "music_audio",
  "description": "Transcribe speech in multiple languages or translate spoken audio into English with OpenAI’s locally runnable speech-recognition models.",
  "useCases": [
    "Create a reviewable transcript of your own interviews or podcasts",
    "Translate permitted non-English recordings into English text"
  ],
  "repoUrl": "https://github.com/openai/whisper",
  "docsUrl": "https://github.com/openai/whisper#setup",
  "demo": {
    "url": "https://github.com/openai/whisper/blob/main/notebooks/Multilingual_ASR.ipynb",
    "label": "Official multilingual ASR notebook",
    "evidenceType": "official_examples",
    "note": "Creator-supplied notebook linked from the README; example code, not an independently tested live service."
  },
  "license": {
    "code": "MIT",
    "weights": "MIT",
    "caveat": "The actual LICENSE is MIT, and the README explicitly applies it to both code and model weights. Keep required notices; a software license does not supply consent to process recordings.",
    "url": "https://github.com/openai/whisper/blob/main/LICENSE"
  },
  "pricing": {
    "summary": "No license fee for local inference; you supply the computer or rented compute.",
    "caveat": "Storage, electricity and cloud GPU time are separate costs. A hosted transcription API is a separate service, not a free entitlement bundled with this repository."
  },
  "platforms": [
    "Linux",
    "macOS",
    "Windows",
    "Python API",
    "Command line"
  ],
  "setupDifficulty": "moderate",
  "setupRequirements": [
    "Python and PyTorch; README lists expected Python 3.8–3.11 compatibility",
    "FFmpeg; Rust may be needed if the tokenizer has no compatible wheel",
    "CPU execution is supported; GPU memory depends on model, with README estimates ranging from about 1 GB for tiny/base to 10 GB for large"
  ],
  "limitations": [
    "Can invent or repeat text; verify consequential transcripts against the recording",
    "Accuracy varies by language, accent and recording",
    "Translation targets English; the turbo model is not trained for translation",
    "The model card does not present the base package as real-time transcription out of the box"
  ],
  "evidenceCheckedDate": "2026-10-14",
  "testStatus": "not_tested",
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "Official README: setup, capabilities and code/weights license",
      "url": "https://github.com/openai/whisper",
      "evidenceCheckedDate": "2026-10-14"
    },
    {
      "title": "Actual MIT LICENSE",
      "url": "https://github.com/openai/whisper/blob/main/LICENSE",
      "evidenceCheckedDate": "2026-10-14"
    },
    {
      "title": "Official model card: intended use and limitations",
      "url": "https://github.com/openai/whisper/blob/main/model-card.md",
      "evidenceCheckedDate": "2026-10-14"
    },
    {
      "title": "Official multilingual ASR example notebook",
      "url": "https://github.com/openai/whisper/blob/main/notebooks/Multilingual_ASR.ipynb",
      "evidenceCheckedDate": "2026-10-14"
    },
    {
      "title": "Transcription implementation: CPU fallback",
      "url": "https://github.com/openai/whisper/blob/main/whisper/transcribe.py",
      "evidenceCheckedDate": "2026-10-14"
    }
  ],
  "categoryLabel": "Music & Audio",
  "tags": [
    "transcription",
    "speech recognition",
    "translation",
    "local"
  ],
  "card": {
    "cost": "Local compute",
    "setup": "Python + FFmpeg"
  },
  "setup": {
    "summary": "Python + FFmpeg",
    "requirements": [
      "Python and PyTorch; README lists expected Python 3.8–3.11 compatibility",
      "FFmpeg; Rust may be needed if the tokenizer has no compatible wheel",
      "CPU execution is supported; GPU memory depends on model, with README estimates ranging from about 1 GB for tiny/base to 10 GB for large"
    ]
  },
  "evidence": {
    "status": "documentation_reviewed",
    "demoType": "official_examples",
    "independentlyTested": false,
    "note": "Official source documentation reviewed; no repository installed or executed."
  },
  "releaseDate": null,
  "releaseDateNote": "Not researched; the evidence check date does not indicate a recent release."
}