A behind-the-scenes look at transcripts, summaries, and closed captioning

We're committed to video-first communication, now more than ever

Our purpose–helping people feel close–is at the heart of every new feature we build because you use this app to nurture and grow the most important relationships in your life. We take that trust very seriously.

That's why we're committed to video-first communication. We truly believe video is the best way to feel close when you can't be with someone in person. Seeing faces, hearing the tone of someone's voice, being in the moment–kids, pets, messy kitchen–that's real connection. You can't convey that in a text message.

While we believe video is best, that doesn't mean video can't be made better. We're always looking for ways to innovate and improve as new technologies become available. But, as always, never at the expense of your well-being and privacy.

Our product team saw an opportunity to help our community feel close by incorporating new technology into the app. As our senior product designer Willem van der Hoeven said, "We challenged ourselves to improve our approach to video with new technologies that could make it easier to connect every day and in more ways throughout the day."

Enter our newest features powered by AI: transcripts and summaries on Plus, and closed captioning for the entire community.

This new suite of features gives you more options on how to engage with your Polo messages. Video is best but now it's also better.

Here are just a few ways we see these new AI-powered features improving the experience on Marco Polo:

• Transcripts give you choices on how to watch your Polos. You can watch without transcripts; you watch at differenet speeds with transcripts on; you can scan and scroll a long Polo in the transcript to tap into the video at a certain point. That's just a few ways to use transcripts.
• Polo summaries give you context when you receive a Polo, including its length. With a summary you can decide, is this something I need to watch now or can it wait until I'm home after work? Or, you can get a sneak peek of a hilarious Polo from a friend before you watch it, enabling you to be in the moment even when you don't have one.
• Closed captions, which are available to the entire community, mean you can watch your Polos where and when you want, whether you have your headphones or not.

Your well-being matters

Our commitment to your privacy has not changed. You're entitled to nurture your relationships without worrying about who's doing what with your data. Your data is not being used to train AI models because we're committed to creating technology that is good for your well-being. That's who we're as people and who we're as a company. We need to innovate, but never at your expense as a member of our community.

"You shouldn't have to compromise on trust to connect with the people who matter most," says CEO Vlada Bortnik.

With every release, we actively seek out the feedback of our community. If these features help you stay connected, we'd love to hear it. And if they don't, we want to hear it.