Nikkei interview: Google DeepMind's Heiga Zen on his path from KOSEN to speech synthesis
heiga_zen · x · 2026-09-14
Nikkei's "Working People Secret Records" series opens with a long-form interview of Heiga Zen (Zen Byonhegung) of Google DeepMind Tokyo, a key figure behind Google's AI speech synthesis work.
- Born in Osaka in 1979, third-generation Korean resident in Japan, son of a ceramic artist
- Recalls building a house with his father, saxophone days at technical high school (KOSEN), and the transfer-exam experience that led him to speech synthesis
- First of an 8-part series tracing his career origins
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