NetTalk (transcription)
No estimate
No hardware requirements for this model
The weights for this model have not been published, so it cannot be downloaded or run on your own hardware at any size. It is reachable only through its provider, and no graphics card changes that.
On record
Full specification
Everything on record for this model. Most of it describes how it was trained rather than how it runs — useful context for judging how much work went into it, and how it compares with models built at a different scale.
Origin
Who built this model, where, and when it was published.
- Organisation
- Princeton University
- Organisation type
- Academia
- Country
- United States of America
- Published
- 6 June 1987
- Authors
- TJ Sejnowski, CR Rosenberg
What it does
The problem areas the model was built for. A model can carry several of each.
- Domain
- Speech
- Task
- Speech synthesis
Size
How large the model is and how much data it was trained on. Parameters are the figure that decides whether it fits on a given graphics card.
- Parameters
- 18.6K
- Training data
- 5,120 tokens
- Epochs
- 55
"The connections in the network are specified by a total of 18629 weight parameters (including a variable threshold for each unit)"
We used the first two pages of transcriptions, which contained 1024 words from a child in firstgrade
Training compute
The arithmetic performed to train the model, measured in floating-point operations. It is a measure of what the training run cost, not of how fast the finished model answers you.
- Training compute
- 2.8 × 10¹⁰ FLOP
- How it was established
- Operation counting
18629 params * 2 FLOP/param * (3 for forward + backward pass) * 55 epochs * 1024 words/epoch * 4.5 letters/word
How it is classified
Labels the source dataset applies when tracking notable models, and how confident it is in the entry.
- Frontier model
- Yes
- Why it is tracked
- Highly cited,Historical significance
- Record confidence
- Confident
- Citations
- 2,558
Sources
Where this record came from and when it was last checked.
- Reference
- Parallel Networks that Learn to Pronounce English Text
- Last updated
- 11 February 2026
What the numbers mean
About this model
NetTalk (transcription) was published by Princeton University, in United States of America, in June 1987. academia is the category the publisher falls under.
It works in Speech, and is recorded as doing speech synthesis.
Its weights were never published, so it can only be reached through its provider. No graphics card changes that.
How it was trained
Producing it required around 2.8 × 10¹⁰ FLOP of arithmetic, which is a statement about the training budget rather than about inference.
Around 5,120 tokens went into training it.
Its inclusion criterion is highly cited,Historical significance.
Answers
NetTalk (transcription) — common questions
Who created NetTalk (transcription)?
NetTalk (transcription) was published by Princeton University, based in United States of America, categorised as academia.
When was NetTalk (transcription) released?
NetTalk (transcription) was published in June 1987. Capability per parameter has improved considerably since, so a newer model of the same size is often the better use of the same hardware.
What is NetTalk (transcription) used for?
NetTalk (transcription) works in Speech, and is recorded as handling speech synthesis. A model can carry several of each, so these are the areas it was built for rather than a limit on what it will attempt.
How much compute was used to train NetTalk (transcription)?
Around 2.8 × 10¹⁰ FLOP. That measures what producing the model cost and says nothing about how quickly it answers once trained — inference speed comes from memory bandwidth, not from the training budget.
What GPU do I need to run NetTalk (transcription)?
None. NetTalk (transcription) is a closed model — its weights were never published, so it cannot be downloaded or run on your own hardware at any price. It is reachable only through its provider.
Is NetTalk (transcription) open source?
The licensing for NetTalk (transcription) was never recorded in our source data. We treat unstated licensing as closed, because an unrecorded licence is not one to rely on.
How many parameters does NetTalk (transcription) have?
NetTalk (transcription) has 18.6K parameters. "The connections in the network are specified by a total of 18629 weight parameters (including a variable threshold for each unit)". That figure is the total, and it is what decides how much memory the model needs — roughly half a gigabyte per billion at the compression most people use.
The other direction
Looking at it from the other side?
This page starts from the model. If you already own a card and want to know everything it will run, start from the hardware instead.