All articles tagged with #elevenlabs
Netflix, with ElevenLabs, will AI-recreate Gene Wilder’s Willy Wonka voice for its unscripted series Wonka’s The Golden Ticket, with Wilder’s estate blessing. The Australia-shot nine-episode competition features 12 Golden Ticket winners and partners, includes Rusty Goffe as an Oompa Loompa, and premieres on Sept. 23, 2026.
An AI-powered Odyssey audiobook uses a digitally replicated Michael Caine voice from ElevenLabs, the company’s first cinematic multicast production with a full cast and original music; Caine’s involvement, via a licensing deal, signals a faster, more flexible approach to classics and casting, even as industry debate over AI’s impact on jobs continues.
Michael Caine’s voice has been cloned by AI to narrate a 13‑hour cinematic audiobook adaptation of Homer’s The Odyssey, produced with ElevenLabs and available for free on ElevenReader, featuring a full cast and music after six weeks of production.
ElevenLabs launches a roughly 13‑hour AI-generated audiobook of Homer’s Odyssey, narrated by a replica of Michael Caine and produced by a small team using ElevenLabs’ voice library and AI tools, released on ElevenReader to complement Christopher Nolan’s upcoming film; the project is built on consent and compensation for voice rights.
At SXSW 2026, ElevenLabs announced the 1 Million Voices Initiative to give free AI voice restoration to people with permanent voice loss, using their voice-cloning tools in collaboration with Rebecca Gayheart Dane and disability groups; the effort includes the 11 Voices docuseries and an online intake for potential participants, aiming to help those affected by illnesses like ALS and cancer regain a voice similar to their own, while acknowledging AI concerns about misuse.
Rebecca Gayheart says Eric Dane, who battled ALS, was eager to try an AI voice restoration created from his past recordings with ElevenLabs; when they heard the synthetic voice, it became a powerful, emotional moment for him and their family.
Rebecca Gayheart Dane discusses her husband Eric Dane’s battle with ALS and his involvement in ElevenLabs’ AI voice restoration project, which used past recordings to recreate a lifelike voice for communication. The initiative, including the ‘11 Voices’ docu-shorts and a pledge of lifetime licenses and support, aims to help up to a million people with voice loss, with Dane’s legacy and SXSW premiere fueling advocacy for the technology and its ethical use.
Liza Minnelli releases her first new music in 13 years, joining an AI-created deep house track called Kids, Wait Til You Hear This and stressing that the project uses AI arrangements rather than AI vocals, with ownership and artist control emphasized. The track is part of a broader AI-in-music wave that includes Art Garfunkel and precedes a larger discussion about AI’s impact on musicians, as labels and startups expand collaborations with generative tools (e.g., Udio, Suno, Klay) and partnerships like Merlin. The piece reflects a tension between innovative tech-enabled creativity and concerns about job displacement for human musicians.
Oscar-winner Matthew McConaughey has eight USPTO trademark applications approved to protect his image and voice, including the catchphrase “All right, all right, all right,” in an effort to curb unauthorized AI use and ensure consent and attribution; he and his team are pursuing legal tools to deter misuse, and he has partnered with ElevenLabs for AI-generated voice work as an investor and collaborator.
Actors Matthew McConaughey and Michael Caine have partnered with AI company ElevenLabs to create AI-generated versions of their voices, with McConaughey investing in the company and using its technology to produce a Spanish-language version of his newsletter, while Caine joins the company's Iconic Voice Marketplace to license his voice for various projects, highlighting advancements in ethical AI voice replication and storytelling.
Kobalt has signed a groundbreaking licensing deal with ElevenLabs' AI music platform, Eleven Music, establishing a 50/50 revenue split between publishing and recorded music, with a Most Favored Nation clause to ensure equal terms for future negotiations. This deal aims to create fairer licensing terms for generative AI music, potentially reshaping industry standards and negotiations.
ElevenLabs has launched an AI music generator that is claimed to be cleared for commercial use, expanding beyond its traditional text-to-speech tools. The company has shared samples of AI-generated music and announced partnerships with major music publishers to use their material for training, amid ongoing legal concerns about copyright infringement in AI music development.
ElevenLabs has introduced a new AI tool that generates sound effects based on user prompts, which can be used for podcasts, movies, or games. The tool offers up to 22 seconds of audio and provides at least four downloadable options. It was developed in collaboration with Shutterstock and is free to use, though commercial licenses require a paid tier. This new feature aims to provide affordable and scalable soundscapes, competing with other AI audio generators like Stability AI's Stable Audio and Meta's AudioCraft.
ElevenLabs has launched a new AI-powered tool that allows users to generate sound effects and instrumental music clips through text prompts. The tool, which uses Shutterstock’s audio library for training, is available to all users with free-tier users able to generate nearly 60 sound effects per month. The tool is designed for various content creators and adheres to a strict content policy. Despite competition from companies like Google, OpenAI, and Meta, ElevenLabs aims to carve out a niche in the AI-driven sound generation space.
Researchers believe that the recent deepfake robocall impersonating President Joe Biden in New Hampshire was likely created using technology from AI startup ElevenLabs, which recently achieved unicorn status with an $80 million funding round. Despite the company's policy recommending permission before cloning voices, it acknowledges that permissionless cloning can be acceptable for non-commercial purposes like political speech. Security company Pindrop's analysis points to ElevenLabs' technology, and UC Berkeley's independent analysis supports this conclusion. The incident highlights the potential for malicious use of AI voice cloning technology, and the need for effective safeguards as the 2024 election season approaches.