EPFL AI Center co-director Marcel Salathe launches audio app for building AI literacy from first principles

The Framework offers 50 sequential audio lessons and ongoing explorations designed to give non-technical learners a durable understanding of AI, launching on iOS and Android in late May 2026.

The Framework, an audio app from EPFL AI Center Co-Director Marcel Salathe, launches on iOS and Android in late May 2026

Marcel Salathe, Associate Professor at EPFL and Co-Director of the EPFL AI Center, is launching The Framework, an audio-only app designed to teach people how to think about AI rather than how to use any specific tool.

The app, which opens its waitlist this month and launches on iOS and Android in late May 2026, is built around 50 sequential audio lessons and a growing library of shorter explorations on emerging topics.

Salathe, who is also a Y Combinator alumnus and best-selling author, wrote on LinkedIn that he has been building the app for six months. He described the premise: "In an age of AI, the most useful thing you can have is a way of thinking that holds up. Something with a longer half-life than the latest model announcement."

The app is priced at £15 per month or £99 per year.

From best-selling book to English-language audio course

The 50 foundation lessons are based on Salathe's existing book on AI, previously published in German and French but never in English. Rather than publishing a straightforward translation, Salathe wrote that he "went all in on audio" for two reasons. The practical one: listeners can engage while walking, cooking, or commuting. The personal one: "There is something about a voice that does not transmit the same way in writing."

The lessons are narrated by Salathe himself, though the app includes an option to switch to an AI-generated voice. The course covers what AI is, how it works, where it is heading, and what it could mean for work, education, science, and how people think about themselves.

The second component, explorations, consists of shorter audio reflections on emerging AI developments. Salathe wrote that these will be "recorded only when I think they are actually worth your time" and added continuously as the field moves, making The Framework "an ongoing project rather than a finished product."

An academic founder with an EdTech track record

Salathe has previous form in education technology. He founded and served as the initial Academic Director of the EPFL Extension School, which was established to bring digital skills to a global audience through online education. He has held positions at Penn State University and Stanford University, and co-founded AIcrowd, a platform for collaborative data science challenges.

The Framework enters a growing market for AI literacy content pitched at professionals and lifelong learners rather than computer science students.