In 2025, the VLC player is not yet close to retirement. According to TechCrunch, Jean-Baptiste Kempf, president of VideoLAN, even explains in a publication on LinkedIn that, despite the existence of streaming, VLC has a growing number of active users. And now, the application has more than 6 billion downloads.
Present at CES in Las Vegas, VideoLAN teased a feature that should make VLC even more popular: automatic subtitles and translation generated by artificial intelligence. According to a post on X, this technology will be based on open source artificial intelligence models that run locally on the user’s device. Therefore, it will be possible to use this functionality when you are not connected to the internet.
At the moment it is unknown when this feature will be available. But in any case, this is a new feature that should make VLC even more popular. And it’s probably also a nod to Generation Z.
Subtitles are extremely popular among young people
Subtitles were created to help people who are deaf or hard of hearing, and so that content can be accessible in several languages. But today, many young people use subtitles, even if they have no hearing problems and even if the video is in their native language.
The reason? First of all, subtitles have been standardized by short video platforms like TikTok, YouTube Shorts or Instagram Reels. But beyond that, there is also a practical side. Indeed, when a video is subtitled, you can watch it without sound (when you are in noisy places, for example). Subtitles also allow you to stay focused on a video.
In 2023, a survey in Britain indicated that 61% of young people aged 18 to 24 would turn on subtitles. And the advantage of the technology that will be used by VLC is that it will allow subtitles even on videos that do not have them.
- VLC is still popular in 2025
- The application has a growing number of users and has reportedly exceeded 6 billion downloads
- VideoLAN is preparing a feature that will allow the application to automatically generate subtitles using artificial intelligence
- This is a feature that should make VLC even more popular among young Gen Zers
- These tend to enable subtitles, even for native language videos
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