US AI Audio Firm ElevenLabs Launches Scribe v3 and v3 Live: First Realtime Speaker Diarization, Significant Error Rate Reductions
ElevenLabs releases next-generation speech-to-text models with a 27% reduction in word errors for batch processing and the introduction of speaker diarization in realtime mode.
US-based AI audio company ElevenLabs launched two new Speech to Text models on November 10, 2026: Scribe v3 for recorded audio and Scribe v3 Live for realtime audio. The company states that these models are designed to address challenges in real-world scenarios such as noisy environments, overlapping speakers, and mid-sentence language switching.
For batch processing, ElevenLabs reports that Scribe v3 reduces Word Error Rate (WER) by 27% compared to its predecessor, Scribe v2, across 102 languages. Improvements were observed in all tested languages, with German accuracy improving by 42%, Spanish by 35%, and English by 23%. Harder-to-transcribe languages like Swahili, Tamil, and Thai saw improvements ranging from 28% to 34%.
The realtime model, Scribe v3 Live, marks a key breakthrough. ElevenLabs claims it reduces semantic WER by 43% compared to Scribe v2 Realtime and introduces 'Speaker Diarization'—automatically labeling who said what—to realtime transcription for the first time. In recordings with three or more speakers, Scribe v3's diarization error rate is 17% lower than the previous generation. Additionally, improved 'Turn Detection' uses conversational context rather than just silence duration to determine when a user has finished speaking, preventing interruptions during mid-sentence pauses.
To meet enterprise needs, the new models offer enhanced output controls, including options to render numbers as digits or words, support for up to 1,000 keyterm prompts to improve proper noun recognition, and plain-text instructions for formatting rules. Scribe v3 Live also adds a multilingual mode supporting language switching within sentences.
Scribe v3 Live is currently available in the ElevenAgents platform, and both models can be accessed via the ElevenAPI. ElevenLabs notes that migrating from Scribe v2 requires changing only one line of code for the model ID. It is important to note that the performance data cited above is based on ElevenLabs' internal datasets and an adapted version of the FLEURS benchmark, representing vendor self-reported results that have not yet been independently verified.