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Block unveils Dessa, an AI model trained from scratch on human conversation

Jack Dorsey's Block announced an AI model called Dessa, which the source says is trained "from scratch on nothing but human conversation." To demonstrate it, Block shared chat examples with humans, some of which the source describes as occasionally awkward and uncanny. One example was shared by Dessa lead Ragavan Thurairatnam. The source frames the release as a showcase of how the model talks, rather than a broad product launch.

Source: The Verge AI · theverge.com Published 2026-10-23T19:32:39+00:00 Detected 2026-10-24T01:24:16+00:00
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Jack Dorsey's Block announced an AI model called Dessa, which the source says is trained "from scratch on nothing but human conversation." To demonstrate it, Block shared chat examples with humans, some of which the source describes as occasionally awkward and uncanny. One example was shared by Dessa lead Ragavan Thurairatnam. The source frames the release as a showcase of how the model talks, rather than a broad product launch.

AI-assisted summary based on the listed source.

Jack Dorsey's Block announced an AI model called Dessa that's trained "from scratch on nothing but human conversation," and to show off the model, Block shared chats it has had with humans that can occasionally be a little awkward and uncanny. Take this one, for example, shared by Dessa lead Ragavan Thurairatnam....

Builders and users interested in conversational AI may want to see how a model trained only on human conversation behaves in practice, since the source highlights its awkward and uncanny moments. Companies working on voice or chat assistants could watch whether this training approach produces more natural dialogue or introduces new quirks. Next steps to monitor include any further details on availability and how Block describes its use.

Signal Strength 95% Technical label SOURCE-BACKED Public Interest 26 Category USEFUL NOW Reader Depth PRACTICAL

Signal Strength reflects source quality, relevance, freshness and evidence. Public Interest helps organize discovery; it is not proof of truth.

Public Interest components
Recognizable Entity Score 0 Practical Impact Score 0 Novelty Interest Score 94 Consequence Score 18 Curiosity Score 0 Shareability Score 45

VQV surfaced this signal because it is recent, relevant to AI Search, connected to The Verge AI.