Question 1

What was Azerty Labs?

Accepted Answer

Azerty Labs was a small hardware lab based in Brest, France, active from 2020 to 2022. The lab designed Eurorack synthesizer modules that embedded machine learning on the module itself — running inference on microcontrollers inside the strict power, space, and latency budget of a 3U Eurorack panel — at a time before generative AI reached the consumer mainstream.

Question 2

Who founded Azerty Labs?

Accepted Answer

Azerty Labs was founded by Chloé Lavrat in Brest, France. She led the hardware design, firmware, and embedded ML work across every module.

Question 3

Where was Azerty Labs based?

Accepted Answer

Azerty Labs was based in Brest, on the west coast of Brittany, France.

Question 4

When did Azerty Labs operate?

Accepted Answer

Azerty Labs operated from 2020 to 2022. The company closed in 2022, several months before ChatGPT brought generative AI to a consumer audience.

Question 5

Why did Azerty Labs close?

Accepted Answer

The lab closed in 2022 because of COVID-era component price inflation — key silicon that had been two euros the year before was quoted at ten, when it was available at all — combined with a sharp post-pandemic contraction in the Eurorack market as discretionary spending pulled back. The economics no longer worked without compromising the signal path.

Question 6

What modules did Azerty Labs design in-house?

Accepted Answer

Three modules were designed in-house: Pronaos, a USB-MIDI interface with an on-module semantic layer running generative rhythm; Gatekeeper, a low-noise bridge for routing rack signals through off-module inference; and Beetlejuice, a compact high-current PSU designed end-to-end with AI assistance. Two reached production.

Question 7

Did Azerty Labs run AI on the module itself?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The thesis of the lab was that learned behavior belongs inside the instrument, not on a server. Pronaos ran a small embedded generative model on-module to transform incoming MIDI into rhythmic variations, with inference executing entirely on a microcontroller inside the 3U panel.

Question 8

Is Azerty Labs still active?

Accepted Answer

No. Azerty Labs closed in 2022 and is preserved as an archive at azerty-labs.com. The founder's current and future work is at chloelavrat.com.