Block, the company behind Square and Cash App, showed a new AI voice model called Dessa on October 23 that listens and talks at the same time, the way people do on the phone. It's a research preview with a waitlist, so scammers can't use it. But cheaper voice cloning already can, and the FBI counted more than $893 million in 2025 losses from complaints that mentioned AI. A family safe word and a call back on a number you already know still stop these calls.

Key facts

  • What: Dessa, a speech-to-speech AI model from Block that listens and talks at the same time
  • When: Announced October 23, 2026
  • Who can use it: Nobody outside Block yet: research preview, public waitlist, early access for some AI safety researchers, no public API
  • The risk today: Voice cloning that already exists. FBI: 22,364 complaints in 2025 mentioned AI, with over $893 million lost
  • Source: Unite.ai on Block's announcement; FBI IC3 2025 report

Most AI voices still give themselves away. They wait for you to stop talking, pause, then answer. Block, the company behind Square and Cash App, says its new model doesn't. Dessa listens and speaks at the same time, so it can laugh, interrupt and say "mm-hm" while you talk, Unite.ai reported after Block's announcement on October 23. Block says it trained the model only on recordings of people talking to each other, not on text.

Can scammers use Dessa?

Not today. Dessa is a research preview. There's a public waitlist and early access for some AI safety researchers, but no public app, no download and no API. Every claim about how human it sounds comes from Block, and nobody outside the company has tested it yet.

That's the good news. The bad news is that scammers don't need Dessa. Tools that copy a voice from a short clip are already cheap and easy to find. The FBI warned in 2024 that criminals use short AI audio clips of a loved one's voice to fake a crisis and ask for money fast. Dessa shows where this is going: calls that don't just sound like someone you know, but talk back like them too.

What the FBI counted

In its 2025 Internet Crime Report, the FBI's complaint center says 22,364 complaints mentioned AI, with adjusted losses of more than $893 million. Victims reported over $5 million lost to "distress" calls alone, where a cloned voice plays a family member in trouble. The report also says that type of call is spreading to other relatives and close friends.

Crypto is often where the money ends up. The same report counts 13,460 complaints about crypto ATMs in 2025, with $389 million lost, and people 60 and over lost about $257 million of that. A caller who sends you to a Bitcoin ATM is using one of the hardest payments to reverse.

Three habits that beat the call

  • Agree on a family safe word. The FBI recommends a secret word or phrase that only your family knows. If a "grandson" in trouble can't say it, hang up. Pick it in person, and never post it or text it.
  • Hang up and call back. Use a number you already have, not one the caller gives you. A real relative, bank or police officer will still be there when you call back.
  • Crypto on the phone is a red flag. No real bank, police department or government office asks you to pay in crypto, buy coins at an ATM or scan a QR code to "keep your money safe". Our Bitcoin ATM scam story shows how those calls go.

A voice that sounds right is no longer proof of who's calling. A word only your family knows, and a call back on a number you trust, still are.

Sources: Unite.ai, Block unveils Dessa, a full-duplex speech model trained on conversation (October 2026), FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, 2025 IC3 Report, FBI IC3, Criminals Use Generative Artificial Intelligence to Facilitate Financial Fraud (December 3, 2024).