README.md

---
license: apache-2.0
base_model: CohereLabs/cohere-transcribe-03-2026
pipeline_tag: automatic-speech-recognition
library_name: openasr
tags:
  - automatic-speech-recognition
  - speech-to-text
  - openasr
  - oasr
  - cohere-transcribe
---

<div align="center">

# Cohere Transcribe 03-2026 · OpenASR

**Dedicated 2B ASR for 14-language transcription**

[![License](https://img.shields.io/badge/license-Apache--2.0-2563eb.svg)](https://huggingface.co/CohereLabs/cohere-transcribe-03-2026/blob/main/README.md)
[![Format](https://img.shields.io/badge/format-.oasr-7c3aed.svg)](https://github.com/QuintinShaw/openasr)
[![Runtime](https://img.shields.io/badge/runtime-OpenASR-111827.svg)](https://openasr.org)
[![Base model](https://img.shields.io/badge/base-cohere--transcribe--03--2026-f59e0b.svg)](https://huggingface.co/CohereLabs/cohere-transcribe-03-2026)

Native speech-to-text in the **[OpenASR](https://github.com/QuintinShaw/openasr)** runtime —
engineered for peak performance on CPU & GPU, **no Python at inference time**.

</div>

---

## ✨ Highlights

- 🎙️ **Dedicated ASR** — audio-in, text-out model built specifically for transcription
- 🌍 **14 languages** — covers English, major European languages, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese
- 🧱 **Conformer encoder-decoder** — large acoustic encoder with a lightweight Transformer decoder
- 🦀 **Native in OpenASR** — `.oasr` packs run with no Python at inference, engineered for peak performance on CPU & GPU

## 🚀 Quickstart

```bash
# 1. Install the OpenASR CLI  ·  https://openasr.org
# 2. Pull a build (pick a quant — see the table below)
openasr pull cohere-transcribe-03-2026:q8

# 3. Transcribe
openasr transcribe audio.wav --model cohere-transcribe-03-2026
```

All builds for this model:

```bash
openasr pull cohere-transcribe-03-2026:fp16
openasr pull cohere-transcribe-03-2026:q8
openasr pull cohere-transcribe-03-2026:q4
```

## 📦 Available builds

| Quant | File (`.oasr`) | Size | RAM peak | RTF · M1 CPU | RTF · M1 GPU | JFK ΔWER vs fp16 |
|:------|:---------------|-----:|---------:|-------------:|-------------:|-----------------:|
| fp16 | `cohere-transcribe-03-2026-fp16.oasr` | 4.14 GB | 5.12 GB | 0.26× | 0.11× | 0.0% |
| q8_0 | `cohere-transcribe-03-2026-q8_0.oasr` | 2.42 GB | 3.42 GB | 0.32× | 0.11× | 0.0% |
| q4_k | `cohere-transcribe-03-2026-q4_k.oasr` | 1.51 GB | 2.49 GB | 0.25× | 0.10× | 0.0% |

<sub>RTF = real-time factor on the fixed 11s JFK clip (**lower is faster**); RAM peak measured per pack
in an isolated subprocess. JFK ΔWER compares each quantized build's JFK transcript to this model's
fp16 JFK transcript, so it measures quantization drift rather than absolute recognition accuracy.
**q8_0** is the recommended default — near-reference quality at a fraction of the
footprint.</sub>

## 🧠 About Cohere Transcribe 03-2026

Cohere Transcribe 03-2026 is Cohere and Cohere Labs' open release of a
2B-parameter automatic speech recognition model. It is a dedicated audio-in,
text-out architecture with a Conformer-based acoustic encoder and a lightweight
Transformer decoder, trained from scratch for transcription. The upstream model
card lists support for 14 languages across English, European, APAC, and MENA
coverage and reports Apache-2.0 licensing. This OpenASR repo repackages the
original `CohereLabs/cohere-transcribe-03-2026` weights as `.oasr` packs that
run natively in the OpenASR runtime with no Python at inference time. For most
users the q8_0 build is the recommended default; q4_k is for tighter memory
budgets and fp16 is for verification or maximum fidelity.

## ⚙️ How these packs were made

Converted from [CohereLabs/cohere-transcribe-03-2026](https://huggingface.co/CohereLabs/cohere-transcribe-03-2026) with the OpenASR importer:

```bash
openasr model-pack import cohere <src> <out>.oasr \
  --package-id cohere-transcribe-03-2026 --quantization {fp16,q8-0,q4-k}
```

The `.oasr` container is GGUF-backed; packs use zero-copy mmap weight binding and graph
buffer reuse to keep peak memory low.

## ⚖️ License

These packs **inherit the upstream model's license: Apache-2.0**
([source](https://huggingface.co/CohereLabs/cohere-transcribe-03-2026/blob/main/README.md)). OpenASR packaging retains the upstream copyright and
NOTICE; the only modifications are format conversion and quantization.

## 🙏 Acknowledgements

This pack is a redistribution of **Cohere Transcribe 03-2026**, released by
**Cohere** and **Cohere Labs**
([CohereLabs/cohere-transcribe-03-2026](https://huggingface.co/CohereLabs/cohere-transcribe-03-2026)).
All credit for the original model, training recipe, and weights belongs to Cohere and
Cohere Labs. The upstream Hugging Face model card declares Apache-2.0 licensing;
OpenASR only converts the weights into `.oasr` packages and adds quantized builds
for local runtime use.

## 🔗 Links

- 🦀 **OpenASR** — <https://github.com/QuintinShaw/openasr>
- 🌐 **Website** — <https://openasr.org>
- 🤗 **Upstream model** — [CohereLabs/cohere-transcribe-03-2026](https://huggingface.co/CohereLabs/cohere-transcribe-03-2026)