Karren Yang
Karren Yang is Cofounder and Chief Scientist at Nuance Labs and a Research Collaborator at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital. She has expertise in machine learning research, and previously held research roles at Apple, Adobe, Bosch Center for Artificial Intelligence, Meta, and MIT.
Nuance Labs raises $50M Series A to build full‑duplex AI that processes and generates real‑time human cues
Seattle-based Nuance Labs, founded in early 2025 by former Apple PhD researchers Fangchang Ma, Edward Zhang, and Karren Yang, raised $50 million in Series A to build a single "full-duplex" foundation model that simultaneously processes and generates real-time conversational cues from live audiovisual signals. The startup aims to create AI avatars that respond with human-like facial expressions, tone, and timing to enable more natural, in-the-moment interactions.
Nuance Labs raises $50M Series A from Lightspeed with NVIDIA as investor to build full‑duplex conversational foundation model
Nuance Labs raised a $50M Series A led by Lightspeed Venture Partners with NVIDIA joining as a new investor to build a full‑duplex foundation model that perceives and responds to speech, facial expression, gaze, and tone in real time to enable more lifelike, emotionally expressive avatars.
Nuance Labs, Founded by Ex-Apple PhDs, Raises $10M to Build Emotional AI Model, Chooses Seattle Over San Francisco
Nuance Labs, founded by ex-Apple PhDs Fangchang Ma and Edward Zhang, raised $10 million led by Accel to develop an AI model that understands and expresses emotion, choosing Seattle as their base over San Francisco. The startup aims to create more realistic AI and has attracted local talent enthusiastic about their mission.
Organizations
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Nuance Labs Cofounder and Chief Scientist 2025–present, Cofounder and Co‑founder · current
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Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital Research Collaborator 2024–present · current
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Apple Senior AI/ML Researcher 2022–2025 · past
Education
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology Doctor of Philosophy - PhD · 2016–2022
