Digital sovereignty beyond the policy paper
Governments want to depend less on American cloud services, yet recordings of meetings and conversations often still pass through tools that process audio outside the EU. Murmel is the opposite route: a Dutch speech recognition model, trained by The AI Factory, running on servers in the Netherlands. No US cloud is involved, from upload to deletion.
- Processing entirely on servers in the Netherlands; data never leaves the EU.
- Recordings and transcripts are automatically deleted after 7 days.
- Data is not used for model training unless explicitly chosen.
Tested on exactly this kind of speech
The quality is not just a claim: the model is publicly benchmarked on 8.9 hours of Dutch parliamentary debate, with speakers from every province. It makes fewer errors than open-source alternatives such as Whisper in every speaker group, including regional accents. Meeting language, interruptions and policy jargon are precisely the domain it is trained and tested on; add your own terminology via a custom vocabulary.
What governments use Murmel for
- Council and committee meetings: from recording to searchable report with speaker labels, as the basis for minutes or decision lists.
- Hearings and conversations: word-for-word reporting where required, verifiable with the audio next to the text.
- Interviews for policy research: transcripts that fit a data management plan, see also transcription for research.
Curious about the broader movement towards European digital infrastructure? Read the piece on digital sovereignty.
Getting started
Try it right away: 14 days for €0.01, then from €9 per month (excl. VAT), cancel monthly. For teams, higher volumes, a data processing agreement or API integration: get in touch.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the audio processed?
Entirely on servers in the Netherlands. No American or non-European cloud is used, and data never leaves the EU at any point.
Is a data processing agreement possible?
Yes, a data processing agreement can be arranged for organisations. Get in touch via the contact page.
How well does it handle meeting language and accents?
The model is publicly benchmarked on Dutch parliamentary debates with speakers from every province and makes fewer errors than open-source alternatives in every speaker group. The methodology is published and verifiable.
Can Murmel connect to existing systems?
There is an API for submitting recordings and retrieving transcripts programmatically. Get in touch to discuss the integration.