README.md

---
license: other
license_name: emu-eula-free-distribution
license_link: LICENSE
language:
- en
- vi
tags:
- on-device
- local-ai
- multimodal
- text-to-speech
- speech-to-text
- ocr
- desktop-app
pretty_name: emu — Local Multimodal AI Desktop App
---

<p align="center">
  <img src="https://huggingface.co/nsugar/emu/resolve/main/emu-logo-text.png" alt="emu" width="320">
</p>

# emu — AI For The Rest Of Us

**emu** is a **local-first, multimodal AI desktop application** that runs
state-of-the-art AI models **entirely on your own computer**. Chat with text,
images and audio; dictate by voice; have replies read aloud; and extract text
from documents — all with a clean, minimal interface, and with **no cloud
account, no telemetry, and no network calls for inference**.

A product of **CloudKites AI Lab (CloudKites Pty Ltd)**, Sydney, Australia.

> 💚 **Free to download, use, and share.** emu is distributed **free of charge**.
> You may use it and **redistribute the complete, unmodified installer** for free
> (no selling, no paid bundling). See **License** below.

---

## ⬇️ Download (Windows)

| Build | For | Installer |
|---|---|---|
| **GPU (CUDA)** | NVIDIA GPU (CC ≥ 7.0) — fastest; real-time speech & OCR | [**emu-1.0.0-windows-cuda-setup.exe**](https://huggingface.co/nsugar/emu/resolve/main/emu-1.0.0-windows-cuda-setup.exe) |
| **CPU** | Any 64-bit PC with **AVX2** (Intel Haswell 2013+ / AMD 2015+) | [**emu-1.0.0-windows-cpu-setup.exe**](https://huggingface.co/nsugar/emu/resolve/main/emu-1.0.0-windows-cpu-setup.exe) |

The installers are **code-signed** and self-contained — the GPU build bundles the
NVIDIA CUDA/cuDNN runtime, so there is nothing else to install. On first run, emu
offers to download the model bundle(s) you choose into your local models folder.

## ⬇️ Download (Linux)

| Build | For | Installer |
|---|---|---|
| **GPU (CUDA)** | NVIDIA GPU (CC ≥ 7.0) — fastest; real-time speech & OCR | [**emu-1.0.0-linux-cuda.run**](https://huggingface.co/nsugar/emu/resolve/main/emu-1.0.0-linux-cuda.run) |
| **CPU** | Any 64-bit PC with **AVX2** (Intel Haswell 2013+ / AMD 2015+) | [**emu-1.0.0-linux-cpu.run**](https://huggingface.co/nsugar/emu/resolve/main/emu-1.0.0-linux-cpu.run) |

The Linux installers are self-contained (the Qt runtime, all required plugins, and
— for the GPU build — the CUDA/cuDNN runtime are bundled). They are distributed
over HTTPS and are not code-signed. After downloading, mark the installer
executable and run it:

```bash
chmod +x emu-1.0.0-linux-cuda.run   # or emu-1.0.0-linux-cpu.run
./emu-1.0.0-linux-cuda.run
```

**Launching emu after install:** the installer adds **emu** to your application
menu — just click it. Or run the installed binary directly:

```bash
"<install-folder>/emu"      # e.g. ~/emu/emu  — runs from anywhere, no wrapper needed
```

Requires a glibc-based 64-bit Linux (glibc ≥ 2.38) with a working X11/XCB display.

**Microphone / speech-to-text:** emu records using your system's audio recorder, so
one of these must be installed (on a standard PipeWire desktop the first is already
present):
```bash
sudo apt install pipewire-bin      # provides pw-record (recommended, PipeWire-native)
# or: sudo apt install pulseaudio-utils   (parecord)
# or: sudo apt install alsa-utils         (arecord)
```

**Getting a model:** open the **model menu** at the top and pick one to download, or
just **type a prompt and press Enter** — if no model is installed yet, emu downloads
a recommended one automatically and sends your message once it's ready.

**Documentation:**
[User Guide (PDF)](https://huggingface.co/nsugar/emu/resolve/main/USER_GUIDE.pdf) ·
[Product Information (PDF)](https://huggingface.co/nsugar/emu/resolve/main/PRODUCT_INFORMATION.pdf) ·
[License](https://huggingface.co/nsugar/emu/resolve/main/LICENSE)

---

## ✨ Features

- **Multimodal chat** — text, plus attach an **image** or **audio** clip.
- **🎤 Speech-to-text** — dictate prompts on-device; auto-detect or choose from 20 languages.
- **🔊 Text-to-speech** — read replies aloud with four engines, including
  **multilingual** output and on-device **Vietnamese voice cloning**.
- **📄 Document OCR** — extract text and tables from **images and PDFs**.
- **Multilingual** — chat models natively handle dozens of languages; **English**
  and **Vietnamese** are first-class across chat, speech and voice.
- **100% private & offline** — every model runs on your CPU or NVIDIA GPU; nothing
  leaves your device. No account, no telemetry.
- **Persistent chats**, Markdown rendering, model picker, and resource-aware loading.

---

## 🧠 Models (in this repository)

Each model is a single self-contained `.nbq` bundle (weights + tokenizer +
helpers in one file), auto-downloaded by emu on first use. You only need the
model(s) for the features you want.

| File | Capability | Base model · Provider · License |
|---|---|---|
| `gemma-4-12b-it-UD-Q2_K_XL.nbq` | Chat (text) — compact 2-bit, ~5 GB | Gemma 4 12B · Google DeepMind · Gemma Terms |
| `gemma-4-12b-it-qat-q4_0.nbq` | Chat (text), higher accuracy — 4-bit, ~7.5 GB | Gemma 4 12B · Google DeepMind · Gemma Terms |
| `gemma-4-e4b-it-q4_k_m.nbq` | Chat **+ vision + audio** (multimodal) | Gemma 4 E4B · Google DeepMind · Gemma Terms |
| `qwen3.5-4b-q4_k_m.nbq` | Chat (text), light & fast | Qwen 3.5 4B · Alibaba Qwen · Apache-2.0 |
| `qwen3.5-9b-q4_k_m.nbq` | Chat (text), stronger | Qwen 3.5 9B · Alibaba Qwen · Apache-2.0 |
| `qwen3-asr-0.6b.nbq` | Speech-to-text (20 languages) | Qwen3-ASR · Alibaba Qwen · Apache-2.0 |
| `qwen3-tts-0.6b.nbq` | Text-to-speech (multilingual, preset voices) | Qwen3-TTS · Alibaba Qwen · Apache-2.0 |
| `gwen-tts-vn-0.6b.nbq` | Text-to-speech — **Vietnamese voice cloning** | gwen-tts · G-Group AI Lab · MIT |
| `pocket-tts-en.nbq` | Text-to-speech — fast English streaming | Pocket TTS · Kyutai · CC-BY-4.0 |
| `vieneu-tts.nbq` | Text-to-speech — Vietnamese / English | VieNeu-TTS · pnnbao-ump · OpenMOSS · Apache-2.0 |
| `ppocr-v6.nbq` | Document OCR (detection + recognition) | PP-OCRv6 · PaddlePaddle · Apache-2.0 |

Bundled AI models remain under their own licenses — see
[`THIRD_PARTY_LICENSES.md`](https://huggingface.co/nsugar/emu/resolve/main/THIRD_PARTY_LICENSES.md)
and each model's own terms. Use of the Gemma models is additionally subject to the
**Gemma Terms of Use** and Prohibited Use Policy.

---

## 💻 Which model for my computer?

| Your PC | Recommended chat model | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| NVIDIA GPU, 12 GB+ VRAM | Gemma 4 12B (4-bit); Qwen 3.5 9B | Highest quality, fast |
| NVIDIA GPU, ~8 GB VRAM | Gemma 4 12B (2-bit); Qwen 3.5 4B | Fits an 8 GB card |
| CPU only (AVX2, 16 GB+ RAM) | Qwen 3.5 4B; Gemma 4 E4B | Quick without a GPU |
| Image / audio understanding | Gemma 4 E4B (multimodal) | CPU or GPU |

The **GPU (CUDA)** build gives real-time text-to-speech and OCR in seconds per
page. The **CPU** build runs every feature (OCR and the largest models are
slower). emu's **Auto** device setting uses the GPU when available and falls back
to the CPU otherwise.

---

## 📜 License

emu is **proprietary software distributed free of charge** © 2026 CloudKites Pty
Ltd (CloudKites AI Lab), ABN 91 633 195 874. It is provided in compiled (binary)
form for Windows and Linux.

- ✅ **Free to use** — personal or commercial, on any number of devices.
- ✅ **Free to redistribute** — you may share the **complete, unmodified** official
  installer, free of charge, with all notices intact.
- ❌ **No selling / no paid bundling**, no modification, no reverse-engineering.
- The source code of emu and its Numbat ML toolkit is confidential and is not distributed.

Full terms: [`LICENSE`](https://huggingface.co/nsugar/emu/resolve/main/LICENSE).
"emu", "Numbat" and "CloudKites" are trademarks of CloudKites Pty Ltd.

---

## ⚠️ AI output notice

emu uses generative AI models. Output may be inaccurate, incomplete, or fabricated
even when it appears confident, and is **not** a substitute for professional advice
— verify important information against trusted sources.

---

Contact: **contact@cloudkites.com** · **cloudkites.com**