Translating...
From a house in Dadizele to a $10 Billion Valuation. A story of innovation, ambition, and betrayal.
It started with a dream and a mortgage. In 1987, Pol Hauspie and I founded Lernout & Hauspie (L&H) in Ieper, Belgium. We didn't have capital, so I sold my house in Dadizele. We believed that computers could do more than calculate; we believed they could speak and listen.
By late 1999, Microsoft, Intel and many others had thoroughly vetted our technology and found it to be world-class. Bill Gates himself visited Ieper and declared L&H the world leader in language technology.
Our goal was to bridge the gap between people and technology using natural language. We developed coding for 40 different languages simultaneously using our LDC (Language Development Companies) model—a franchising system that was later misunderstood and criminalized.
Critics called it "baked air." The reality was 450+ patents and code that powers today's AI, including Siri and Alexa.
Converting text into natural-sounding speech. We pioneered this for car navigation (Mercedes, BMW) and tools for the visually impaired. Today, this is the voice of your GPS.
Converting spoken words into text. Used by doctors (Dragon Naturally Speaking) and the military. This tech is the direct ancestor of modern assistants like Siri.
The foundation for digital storage (Dictaphone) and later VOIP applications like Skype. We converted analog speech to highly compressed digital formats.
Searching for concepts rather than just keywords. Critical for intelligence agencies (CIA, NSA) to sift through massive amounts of intercepted data. Vantage Linguistics still uses this today.
By 2000, L&H was worth over $10 Billion. We acquired Dragon and Dictaphone ($900M). We weren't just a Belgian startup anymore; we owned strategic assets used by the Pentagon and US intelligence. We had become a "Thousand-legged danger" to established US interests.
The fall wasn't just caused by accounting errors in Korea. It was an orchestrated dismantling. When the crisis hit, we brought in "saviors" like John Duerden (former Dictaphone CEO) and Philippe Bodson.
Instead of saving the company, they acted like the Scorpion in the fable. Duerden collaborated with short-sellers. Bodson ignored a $400M rescue offer from Daimler Benz/Temic.
The media called it a fraud. But if it was fake, why did:
The tragic irony is that the LDC (Language Development Companies) model, which was criminalized, was actually a valid franchising model to develop 40 languages simultaneously. We made mistakes in Korea, but the company was solvable.
The vision of natural language technology didn't end. It has been reborn.
Eburon is the new chapter, continuing the legacy of innovation in AI and speech technology.
Experience the next generation of our language technology. Private, multi-lingual, and context-aware.
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