ElevenLabs Launches Celebrity Voice Marketplace with McConaughey and Caine Partnerships

ElevenLabs strike deals with celebs to create AI audio | TechCrunch

Hollywood and AI have an up-and-down relationship, with AI and its -- or lack thereof -- guardrails serving among the main concerns that led to the Hollywood strikes a few years ago. Since then, some artists have started to warm up to the idea of AI. Last year, Meta announced that its Meta AI would offer voice assistants that sound like actresses Kristen Bell and Judi Dench. With McConaughey, an investor in ElevenLabs, the company will translate his newsletter into Spanish audio with the use of his AI voice. ElevenLabs also announced this week that it was launching a marketplace to let brands use authorized AI-generated voices of celebrities, which will include Caine and other names like Liza Minelli and Dr. Maya Angelou.

You Can Use an AI Clone of Matthew McConaughey's Voice, If He Says It's Alright, Alright, Alright

Two celebrities with iconic voices have struck deals with an AI company to let others license AI clones of their voices -- if they approve. AI audio company ElevenLabs announced partnerships on Wednesday with actors Matthew McConaughey and Michael Caine, as well as the estates of several deceased public figures, to create AI-generated versions of their voices, available for licensing through a public platform. McConaughey is an investor in ElevenLabs, and he will use the AI-generated "clone" of his voice to create the Spanish audio versions of his Lyrics of Livin' newsletter. In a statement to Variety, McConaughey said AI audio from ElevenLabs allows him "to reach and connect with even more people" and encouraged those developing AI audio tools to "keep going." British actor Michael Caine is also among the celebrities whose voices will be AI-ified, along with Liza Minnelli. There are also the voices of historical figures, including Maya Angelou, Judy Garland, Alan Turing, Richard Feynman, J. Robert Oppenheimer and Babe Ruth, among others. ElevenLabs created these AI voices by using historical recordings of their voices, with the assistance of their estates. We've already seen numerous celebrities jump on the AI bandwagon. Last year, Meta collaborated with several celebrities to bring their voices to its Meta AI chatbots, including Kristen Bell, Dame Judi Dench, and John Cena. ElevenLabs' new marketplace is more focused on helping businesses license these AI voices. ElevenLabs is a facilitator; you can request to license a specific person's AI audio on ElevenLabs' website. The rights holder will review your request, and if approved, ElevenLabs will help you gain access to the technology. You can't upload a TikTok script and automatically have it read in McConaughey's voice, for example. While ElevenLabs' AI audio platform for celebrity voices isn't the same as what Meta or even OpenAI's Sora offer, it's another instance of celebrities teaming up with AI companies. As AI audio, image, and video tools advance, these partnerships are one way for celebrities and public figures to regain some control over their likenesses. For individuals whose faces and voices are integral to their reputation and livelihood, generative AI presents both opportunities and risks. Projects like ElevenLabs' iconic marketplace are a chance for celebrities, public figures and influencers to make deals (and profit) from allowing an AI company to use their name, image and likeness and offer it to consumers. But it's hard to control AI tools once they're out there, and we know that the systems AI companies use to prevent misuse aren't perfect. It's why misinformation and deepfakes are a concern for all of us, especially since it's harder than ever to spot AI-generated content. On the flip side, there is a bevy of lawsuits from publishers, intellectual property owners and content catalogs. Many have sued AI companies, alleging that AI users can create too realistic imagery that violates their copyright protections. Disney, Universal and Warner Bros. are all suing AI firm Midjourney, alleging its AI image generator doesn't adequately stop users from creating AI images of protected characters like Scooby Doo and Shrek. (Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET's parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)

ElevenLabs' new AI marketplace lets brands use famous voices for ads

ElevenLabs is launching an online marketplace that allows companies to license AI-replicated voices of famous figures for their content and advertisements. The AI audio startup says its new Iconic Voice Marketplace resolves some of the ethical concerns around using AI-generated celebrity voices by providing brands with the "consent-based, performer-first approach the industry has been calling for." It works by connecting companies with whoever owns the rights to a specific voice, with ElevenLabs' platform serving as a middleman that formalizes the licensing deal and synthesizes the voices. ElevenLabs says the marketplace is only open to a curated list of "verified, iconic talent and IP owners," to ensure that the voices of notable figures are only generated "with permission, transparency, and fair compensation." Some of the AI voices have been achieved using cloning technology, while others have been synthetically replicated by referencing historical or archival audio. I guess it would have been a mouthful to call this a "marketplace for voices of famous people," given the list includes historical figures like Mark Twain, Thomas Edison, and Alan Turing, and most people wouldn't recognize what they actually sound like. Michael Caine is one of the few living celebrities to lend his voice to ElevenLabs, and said the company "gives everyone the tools to be heard." "It's not about replacing voices; it's about amplifying them, opening doors for new storytellers everywhere," Caine said in a statement on ElevenLabs' announcement. "I've spent a lifetime telling stories. ElevenLabs will help the next generation tell theirs." Here's the full list of all 28 voices that are currently available on the marketplace:

Michael Caine and Matthew McConaughey partner with ElevenLabs for AI voice cloning

NEW YORK (AP) -- Oscar-winning actors Michael Caine and Matthew McConaughey have made deals with voice-cloning company ElevenLabs that will allow its artificial intelligence technology to replicate their voices. Caine said in a statement that ElevenLabs is "using innovation not to replace humanity, but to celebrate it." "It's not about replacing voices; it's about amplifying them, opening doors for new storytellers everywhere," said the 92-year-old British actor in a written statement. McConaughey also said he is investing in the New York-based startup and has had a relationship with it for several years. Financial terms of the deals were not disclosed. McConaughey said the deal will enable him to voice his newsletter in Spanish. Founded in 2022 and based in New York, ElevenLabs initially developed its technology to dub audio in different languages for movies, audiobooks and video games to preserve the speaker's voice and emotions. But shortly after its public release, ElevenLabs said in January 2023 it was seeing "an increasing number of voice cloning misuse cases" and promised new safeguards to tamp down on abuse, including limiting features to paid users. A year later, however, a digital consultant was able to use ElevenLabs software to mimic then-President Joe Biden's voice in a robocall message sent to thousands of New Hampshire voters. The company now says it has additional measures to block the cloning of celebrity and other high-profile voices without their consent.

Matthew McConaughey and Michael Caine are licensing their voices to AI

Serving tech enthusiasts for over 25 years. TechSpot means tech analysis and advice you can trust. A hot potato: Cloned voices have become a hot-button topic. Beyond the risk of misinformation, actors are increasingly demanding compensation for the use of their voice likenesses. However, it's a legal gray area - can anyone actually copyright or trademark a voice? One AI startup thinks it has the answer, offering a way to license them legitimately. Actors Matthew McConaughey and Michael Caine are partnering with AI audio company ElevenLabs to produce virtual replications of their voices. The collaboration lets both actors explore new ways to share stories while giving creators and companies controlled access to their vocal likenesses. McConaughey, who has invested an undisclosed sum in the New York-based startup, has collaborated with ElevenLabs since its founding in 2022. He is now using the company's technology to launch a Spanish-language audio edition of his newsletter, Lyrics of Livin', narrated in his own voice. The expansion reflects a growing interest in multilingual content and the potential for AI to reach audiences that might not engage with conventional formats. The startup's technology converts human voices into high-fidelity digital replicas. Creators and enterprises can use the voices to produce podcasts, audiobooks, and other audio content without requiring the actor's physical presence. McConaughey described the platform as a way to connect with listeners directly while maintaining the personal touch of his own narration. Caine has signed a deal with ElevenLabs to use his voice in its newly launched Iconic Voice Marketplace - think Unreal Marketplace, but for celebrity voices. The platform allows companies and creative teams to request approval to use Caine's voice for projects, including book narration, campaigns, and digital media. ElevenLabs emphasizes that the service provides an ethical framework for licensing some of the world's most recognizable voices. The marketplace includes a broad roster of celebrity voices, from Judy Garland and Liza Minnelli to Maya Angelou, John Wayne, and Babe Ruth. By formalizing permissions and licensing agreements, ElevenLabs seeks to reduce the ethical concerns around AI-generated media while giving storytellers access to historic or iconic voices. The platform operates as a two-sided framework, connecting companies with talent or intellectual property holders. Once both parties finalize agreements, ElevenLabs formalizes the collaboration, allowing content creators to legally use voices for marketing, storytelling, or educational projects. ElevenLabs has grown rapidly. Last month, the startup offered employees a $100 million stock tender that valued the firm at $6.6 billion, doubling its Series C valuation from earlier in 2025. Employee numbers have surged from 70 to more than 330 in a single year, highlighting investor confidence and the accelerating demand for voice AI. "[Michael Caine is] an iconic creator and voice whose cultural and artistic consequence we hope will only be further championed through this platform," ElevenLabs CEO Mati Staniszewski told Variety. The partnership shows how AI-driven audio technology is opening new creative possibilities while respecting artists' rights. With access to voices like Caine's, storytellers can bring fresh energy to their projects and connect with audiences in ways that feel immediate and personal.

ElevenLabs Makes AI Voice Deals with Matthew McConaughey and Michael Caine

ElevenLabs, the AI company slowly making itself synonymous with AI dubbing and narration, announced two deals with movie stars on Tuesday that are sure to irk AI opponents in wildly different ways. Aging Texan chill bro Matthew McConaughey is further intertwining his finances, and some of his minor creative output, with the AI company. Meanwhile, 92-year old Cockney legend Michael Caine is being inducted into ElevenLabs' rather chillingly named "Iconic Marketplace." McConaughey will be "investing an undisclosed sum" in the company, and adding its product to one of his steady creative workflows. "Since our first conversation, I’ve been impressed by how the ElevenLabs team has taken the magic of the core technology and turned it into products that creators, enterprises, and storytellers use daily,†McConaughey wrote in a Silicon Valley lingo-tinged statement about the deal. Gizmodo asked ElevenLabs for McConaughey's ownership percentage, and will update if we hear back. What McConaughey is literally doing is, well, having someone add ElevenLabs' tech to his newsletter-podcast-YouTube thingy called "Lyrics Of Livin' with McConaughey." Please do listen to it. It's very McConaughey. It's a weekly newsletter of thoughts and stories from McConaughey-land that he also narrates. Judging from the audio quality and mic work, it sounds like McConaughey (quite charmingly) records the English-language audio track himself on home equipment before an animation pass is added and the product is uploaded to YouTube and emailed out. What's coming, it seems, will ostensibly be a Spanish-language version of Lyrics Of Livin' with a robotic approximation of McConaughey's own vocal timbre and inflection. According to the newsletter's website, the new version will be calledâ€"you guessed itâ€""Lyrics Of Livin' con McConaughey." "Now, thanks to ElevenLabs, Lyrics of Livin’ is expanding with a Spanish language edition, allowing us to reach and connect with even more people," McConaughey said in his statement. The other news item the company McConaughey owns some unspecified amount of announced on Tuesday at the same time is that Michael Caine is now a member, and seemingly the standard bearer, of the Iconic Marketplace. ElevenLabs describes what it's offering in the following terms: "License AI voices and IP of history's most iconic figures for your creative projects. Request licensing for entertainment legends, sports heroes, musical pioneers, and transformative historical figures. Our marketplace connects creators with rights holders for the most iconic IP." The overwhelming majority of the voices on offer here, including Maya Angelou, John Wayne, Judy Garland, and Richard Feynman, are "speaking" from beyond the grave. In fact, it seems out of the 26 icons in the Iconic Marketplace, the only living ones other than Caine are Art Garfunkel and Liza Minnelli. What a trio. But there's simply no refuting ElevenLabs' choice of word: Michael Caine's voice is iconic. And you can now license a digitized version of it for your "projects and content" through ElevenLabs for the low low price of, well, the price isn't provided until you tell ElevenLabs what the project is. But one can only assume it's much less than the cost of having the actual man vibrate his tremulous vocal cords for you.

Matthew McConaughey and Michael Caine sign voice deal with AI company

The voices of the Oscar-winning actors can now be used to create AI-generated versions in a new deal with ElevenLabs Oscar-winning actors Matthew McConaughey and Michael Caine have both signed a deal with the AI audio company ElevenLabs. The New York-based company can now create AI-generated versions of their voices as part of a bid to solve a "key ethical challenge" in the artificial intelligence industry's alliance with Hollywood. McConaughey, who has also invested in the company and collaborated with it since 2022, will now allow ElevenLabs to translate his newsletter, Lyrics of Livin', into a Spanish-language audio version using his voice. In a statement, the Dallas Buyers Club actor said he was "impressed" by ElevenLabs and wanted the partnership to help him "reach and connect with even more people". His voice had already been on the company's ElevenReader app, which allows users to have celebrity voices read emails or books to them. ElevenLabs is also launching the Iconic Voices Marketplace, which will allow brands to partner with the company and use officially licensed celebrity voices for AI-generated usage. Caine's new deal has made his distinctive voice part of its lineup. "For years, I've lent my voice to stories that moved people - tales of courage, of wit, of the human spirit," Caine said in a statement. "Now, I'm helping others find theirs. With ElevenLabs, we can preserve and share voices - not just mine, but anyone's." The actor went on to say that the company is "using innovation not to replace humanity, but to celebrate it", and that it's "not about replacing voices; it's about amplifying them". Caine recently revealed that he would be coming out of retirement for a role opposite Vin Diesel in The Last Witch Hunter 2. Other voices that are part of the marketplace include dead Hollywood stars such as John Wayne, Rock Hudson and Judy Garland as well as those still living such as Liza Minnelli and Art Garfunkel. The list also includes figures such as Amelia Earhart, Babe Ruth, J Robert Oppenheimer, Maya Angelou and Alan Turing. ElevenLabs was recently valued at about $6.6bn. The news follows other celebrity partnership deals with AI such as the many major names who signed up to have their voices used by Meta. Last year, the company revealed a list that includes Judi Dench, John Cena and Kristen Bell. Other names, such as Ashton Kutcher and Leonardo DiCaprio, have also invested in AI companies.

Matthew McConaughey, Michael Caine sell their voices to AI podcast company

ElevenLabs is launching its Iconic Voice Marketplace and Matthew McConaughey is becoming an investor. Credit: David Parry/PA Images via Getty Images Looks like AI is alright, alright, alright to actor Matthew McConaughey...and a slew of other celebrities too. According to a new report from Variety, Matthew McConaughey has partnered with the AI audio company ElevenLabs for a new project, a Spanish-language audio version of his newsletter "Lyrics of Livin'," and the actor doesn't even need to know Spanish to do it. McConaughey's voice will be cloned and the audio will be created using ElevenLabs technology. In addition to the new collaboration, McConaughey, who reportedly has worked with ElevenLabs before, is now an investor in the company as well. "Since our first conversation, I've been impressed by how the ElevenLabs team has taken the magic of the core technology and turned it into products that creators, enterprises and storytellers use daily," McConaughey said in a statement. "I launched my newsletter, 'Lyrics of Livin',' as a way to share stories and ideas in my own voice with those who want to listen. Now, thanks to ElevenLabs, 'Lyrics of Livin'' is expanding with a Spanish language edition, allowing us to reach and connect with even more people." McConaughey's not the only celebrity partnering with ElevenLabs either. ElevenLabs also announced the launch of its new Iconic Voice Marketplace, which will let third-parties request approval to use AI-cloned voices from a roster of famous actors, musical artists, and sports stars. Acting legend Michael Caine has shared that he will be cloning his voice for the company's Iconic Voice Marketplace. ElevenLab's also shared a list of other voices (alive and dead) available in its Iconic Voice Marketplace, including Judy Garland, John Wayne, Liza Minnelli, Laurence Olivier, Maya Angelou, and Babe Ruth. The marketplace also includes historical figures such as Thomas Edison and Mark Twain. According to ElevenLabs, there are currently 28 celebrity voices available in the marketplace. (Note: Matthew McConaughey is not part of the Iconic Voice Marketplace.) Hollywood, SAG, and other actors and artists' representatives have struggled with how to deal with the growing threat of AI over the past few years. Studios looking to cut costs continue to push for AI, whereas artists and their fans have criticized the use of AI in the arts. Recently, Zelda Williams, daughter of the late Robin Williams, denounced the use of AI to create depictions of her father online without any consent. ElevenLabs has clearly been paying attention with its Iconic Voice Marketplace, highlighting how it requires artists or their families to fully consent to any AI usage of the celebrity's likeness. However, the fact that legends like Michael Caine are taking part in this shows that some actors may feel like this is the way the industry is going, whether they like it or not, and adapting is the best way to maintain some control over their voice.

Matthew McConaughey, Michael Caine Team Up With ElevenLabs to Recreate Their Voices Using AI - Decrypt

Creatives in Hollywood are pushing back against the use of AI, with Guillermo del Toro, Emma Thompson, and Nicolas Cage condemning the tech as a threat to artistic integrity. Academy Award-winning actors Matthew McConaughey and Michael Caine have partnered with AI audio company ElevenLabs to create digital replicas of their iconic voices, even as prominent Hollywood figures continue to denounce AI's encroachment into their craft. McConaughey has been an "investor and early supporter" of the platform for years, and plans to use the voice cloning tech to launch a Spanish edition of his "Lyrics of Livin'" newsletter, according to a statement released Tuesday. Caine has listed his voice on the company's new Iconic Voice Marketplace, a platform that lets brands and producers pay to use AI versions of celebrity voices for everything from audiobooks to ad campaigns. The deals mark a point of contention, with actors divided between those who embrace AI's commercial potential and those who view it as an existential threat to their livelihoods. "Since our first conversation, I've been impressed by how the ElevenLabs team has taken the magic of the core technology and turned it into products that creators, enterprises, and storytellers use daily," McConaughey said in a statement provided by ElevenLabs, as cited in a Variety report. Caine's voice now joins the marketplace alongside digital voice replicas of deceased celebrities Judy Garland, John Wayne, Babe Ruth, and Alan Turing. First Lady Melania Trump collaborated with ElevenLabs to publish an audiobook version of her memoir, using an AI-generated replica of her voice. Three-time Oscar winner Guillermo del Toro declared "fuck AI!" at a New York City screening of his Netflix film "Frankenstein" last week, later telling NPR he would "rather die" than use generative AI in his films. Recently on Stephen Colbert's late show, Academy Award winner Dame Emma Thompson expressed "intense irritation" with Microsoft's AI assistant offering to rewrite her scripts: "I don't need you to fucking rewrite what I've just written!" "Iron Man" star and Oscar winner Robert Downey Jr. vowed last October to "sue all future executives" who create digital replicas using generative AI of his Iron Man character without permission, while Nicolas Cage called AI "inhumane," warning young actors the technology "wants to take your instrument." Boris Rehlinger, the French voice of Ben Affleck and Joaquin Phoenix, is leading the TouchePasMaVF initiative to protect human dubbing from AI replacement. "I feel threatened even though my voice hasn't been replaced by AI yet," Rehlinger told Reuters. The Screen Actors Guild has waged a multi-year fight over AI rights, striking for 118 days in 2023 to secure protections from the 'threat of AI.' Around the same time, video game performers launched a separate strike in July 2024 over AI voice cloning, ending the year-long action with a contract requiring explicit consent and "cryptographic proof" for any AI-generated performances.

ElevenLabs expands AI voice marketplace with major Hollywood talent

The relationship between Hollywood and AI has been variable, with concerns regarding its guardrails contributing to previous Hollywood strikes. Some artists have since embraced AI technology. Last year, Meta introduced voice assistants for Meta AI featuring voices resembling actresses Kristen Bell and Judi Dench. ElevenLabs will translate Matthew McConaughey's newsletter into Spanish audio using his AI voice; McConaughey is an investor in ElevenLabs. ElevenLabs also announced the launch of a marketplace this week, enabling brands to utilize authorized AI-generated celebrity voices. This marketplace will feature Caine, Liza Minnelli, and Dr. Maya Angelou. ElevenLabs, identified as an AI unicorn company, has investors including a16z and ICONIQ.

Michael Caine and Matthew McConaughey partner with ElevenLabs for AI voice cloning

NEW YORK (AP) -- Oscar-winning actors Michael Caine and Matthew McConaughey have made deals with voice-cloning company ElevenLabs that will allow its artificial intelligence technology to replicate their voices. Caine said in a statement that ElevenLabs is "using innovation not to replace humanity, but to celebrate it." "It's not about replacing voices; it's about amplifying them, opening doors for new storytellers everywhere," said the 92-year-old British actor in a written statement. McConaughey also said he is investing in the New York-based startup and has had a relationship with it for several years. Financial terms of the deals were not disclosed. McConaughey said the deal will enable him to voice his newsletter in Spanish. Founded in 2022 and based in New York, ElevenLabs initially developed its technology to dub audio in different languages for movies, audiobooks and video games to preserve the speaker's voice and emotions. But shortly after its public release, ElevenLabs said in January 2023 it was seeing "an increasing number of voice cloning misuse cases" and promised new safeguards to tamp down on abuse, including limiting features to paid users. A year later, however, a digital consultant was able to use ElevenLabs software to mimic then-President Joe Biden's voice in a robocall message sent to thousands of New Hampshire voters. The company now says it has additional measures to block the cloning of celebrity and other high-profile voices without their consent.

Matthew McConaughey and Michael Caine raise eyebrows with AI voice projects

Bus driver Kevin McKay (Matthew McConaughey) works to save more than 20 children during the deadly Camp Fire in "The Lost Bus." If artificial intelligence is here to stay, Matthew McConaughey and Michael Caine aren't wasting any time jumping on the bandwagon. The Oscar-winning actors are teaming up with audio research company ElevenLabs to produce AI replications of their voices, according to a pair of press releases published Tuesday, Nov. 11. McConaughey, who released his poetry book "Poems & Prayers" in September, is partnering with ElevenLabs for the Spanish-language audio version of his newsletter, "Lyrics of Livin'." The English-language version features McConaughey's unaltered voice. "I launched my newsletter, 'Lyrics of Livin',' as a way to share stories and ideas in my own voice with those who want to listen," McConaughey said in a statement to Variety. "To everyone building with voice technology: keep going. You're helping create a future where we can look up from our screens and connect through something as timeless as humanity itself -- our voices." In addition to their audiobook collaboration, McConaughey, 56, has been an investor in ElevenLabs for several years. "What's remained constant is the extraordinary storytelling capabilities and creative potential that ElevenLabs unlocks -- something that stood out to me from the start and that speaks to me as a professional storyteller," the actor said in a separate statement. Meanwhile, Caine, 92, is lending his voice to ElevenLabs' Iconic Marketplace, an audio library that allows companies to "request access to iconic talent for projects and content." Other famous voices featured in the library include Judy Garland, Liza Minnelli, Art Garfunkel and Maya Angelou. "For years, I've lent my voice to stories that moved people -- tales of courage, of wit, of the human spirit. Now, I'm helping others find theirs," Caine, who retired from acting in 2023, said in a statement. "With ElevenLabs, we can preserve and share voices -- not just mine, but anyone's." He added: "ElevenLabs is at the very forefront of technology, using innovation not to replace humanity, but to celebrate it. ElevenLabs gives everyone the tools to be heard. It's not about replacing voices; it's about amplifying them, opening doors for new storytellers everywhere." Fans weigh in on Matthew McConaughey, Michael Caine AI projects The jury is still out on whether the world is ready for AI icons. News of McConaughey and Caine's collaborations with ElevenLabs set off a fierce debate on social media, with many criticizing the actors for using artificial intelligence on their voices. "If you want to profit from using AI yourself, just say that... but let's not make this a self-righteous exclamation about benefitting and connecting humanity...." one X user wrote. "What was the point of the strike if the actors themselves are just gonna sign a deal to let anyone use their voices to say whatever they type on the prompt?" @LittleGameBoy00 wrote, referencing the 2023 actors strike. "Love both of these men, but no. What they are actually doing is ensuring that future generations of actors, singers and voice actors do not get a look-in," @AlynnFletcher wrote. "Having already made outsized amounts of money, relative to 98% of the creatives on this planet, they are not only hoarding money but pulling up the ladder that might have lifted at least some other people from future generations." However, some users applauded the innovation of McConaughey and Caine's team-up with the tech company, especially as AI usage continues to rise across industries. "This makes sense for anyone with an iconic voice. I could have easily seen James Earl Jones being a coveted voice, prior to his death...same with Alan Rickman," @TenDesiderantes wrote. "Lot of voices out there that I could see being sought after for preservation and continued use." "Obviously, there's a myriad of reasons AI is bad, from water use to energy use from data centers, to the fact they're just plundering people's art," @AlwaysFlacko wrote. "Hopefully this can be used to start a precedent that AI companies offer contracts and pay people to use their voices/likenesses exclusively if we're going down this really stupid road." Contributing: Anthony Robledo, USA TODAY

Michael Caine and Matthew McConaughey Partner With ElevenLabs for AI Voice Cloning

NEW YORK (AP) -- Oscar-winning actors Michael Caine and Matthew McConaughey have made deals with voice-cloning company ElevenLabs that will allow its artificial intelligence technology to replicate their voices. Caine said in a statement that ElevenLabs is "using innovation not to replace humanity, but to celebrate it." "It's not about replacing voices; it's about amplifying them, opening doors for new storytellers everywhere," said the 92-year-old British actor in a written statement. McConaughey also said he is investing in the New York-based startup and has had a relationship with it for several years. Financial terms of the deals were not disclosed. McConaughey said the deal will enable him to voice his newsletter in Spanish. Founded in 2022 and based in New York, ElevenLabs initially developed its technology to dub audio in different languages for movies, audiobooks and video games to preserve the speaker's voice and emotions. But shortly after its public release, ElevenLabs said in January 2023 it was seeing "an increasing number of voice cloning misuse cases" and promised new safeguards to tamp down on abuse, including limiting features to paid users. A year later, however, a digital consultant was able to use ElevenLabs software to mimic then-President Joe Biden's voice in a robocall message sent to thousands of New Hampshire voters. The company now says it has additional measures to block the cloning of celebrity and other high-profile voices without their consent.

Matthew McConaughey, Michael Caine Give Their Voice to A.I. Startup ElevenLabs

As some stars reject A.I., McConaughey and Caine are testing what controlled, compensated collaboration could look like. At the end of every episode of creator Vince Gilligan's new Apple TV+ drama Pluribus, a brief message appears with the credits: "This show was made by humans." It might as well be a declaration of war on A.I.'s creeping presence in Hollywood. The Breaking Bad creator has been outspoken in his distrust of A.I., calling it "the world's most expensive and energy-intensive plagiarism machine," in a Variety interview recently. Sign Up For Our Daily Newsletter Sign Up Thank you for signing up! By clicking submit, you agree to our <a href="http://observermedia.com/terms">terms of service</a> and acknowledge we may use your information to send you emails, product samples, and promotions on this website and other properties. You can opt out anytime. See all of our newsletters Not everyone in Hollywood shares his view. Some actors are taking a different approach. Case in point: Matthew McConaughey and Michael Caine have officially licensed their voices to ElevenLabs, the fast-growing startup known for its ultra-realistic A.I. voice models. Their move comes as much of the entertainment industry is still debating what A.I. collaboration should look like. For ElevenLabs, it's the company's highest-profile partnership yet -- an attempt to prove it can be a creative ally rather than a threat. Caine is joining ElevenLabs' new "Iconic Voice Marketplace," which lets companies request permission to use authorized, A.I.-generated versions of celebrity voices in creative projects. "ElevenLabs is at the very forefront of technology, using innovation not to replace humanity, but to celebrate it," Caine said in a statement about the partnership. "ElevenLabs gives everyone the tools to be heard. It's not about replacing voices; it's about amplifying them, opening doors for new storytellers everywhere." ElevenLabs describes its marketplace as a "performer-first" platform built around consent and control. Celebrities must authorize the use of their voice, and clients request access on a case-by-case basis. That structure aligns with SAG-AFTRA's latest contract, which requires explicit permission and fair compensation for any digital replica of an actor. McConaughey is taking things a step further. The True Detective star has taken an equity stake in ElevenLabs (terms undisclosed) and is launching a Spanish-language version of his "Lyrics of Livin'" newsletter, narrated by a synthetic version of his own voice. In announcing the deal, McConaughey praised the "extraordinary storytelling capabilities and creative potential that ElevenLabs unlocks." The two stars represent a major win for ElevenLabs, founded in 2022 by two childhood friends and Big Tech veterans. The company says more than 60 percent of the Fortune 500 use at least one of its A.I. audio tools. Its clients include Perplexity, The Washington Post, and even New York City Mayor Eric Adams. But the company has also faced controversy. During the 2024 Presidential race, a user created a deepfake of President Biden's voice and deployed it in a robocall scheme. ElevenLabs suspended the account, but the episode underscored how quickly voice A.I. can cross ethical lines. Since ElevenLabs' launch, the technology has advanced rapidly, now used in everything from audiobook production to real-time video translation. Still, fear remains widespread in Hollywood. Last year's WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes were fueled in large part by concern that A.I. could devalue creative work and reuse performances without consent. Morgan Freeman, known for his distinctive voice, told The Guardian that his lawyers are pursuing cases in which his voice has been cloned without permission. "I'm a little PO'd, you know," Freeman said. "I'm like any other actor. Don't mimic me with falseness. I don't appreciate it, and I get paid for doing stuff like that, so if you're gonna do it without me, you're robbing me." For proof of how quickly A.I. has seeped into entertainment, look no further than Netflix. The Argentine sci-fi series The Eternaut used generative A.I. to depict the collapse of a building, while Happy Gilmore 2 relied on the technology to de-age characters. The McConaughey and Caine deals are just one chapter in Hollywood's ongoing A.I. reckoning. Their ElevenLabs partnerships don't resolve every concern, but they do suggest a model where actors retain control -- and get paid.

Matthew McConaughey and Michael Caine Sign Deal to Get AI-Versions of Their Voices

Michael Caine has also joined ElevenLabs' Iconic Voice Marketplace, putting his voice on the market for other creators. The debate of AI in the entertainment industry is ongoing. Several popular faces have come forward to criticize the use of artificial intelligence, but there are indeed some actors who have been accepting AI in the industry. And it seems like Matthew McConaughey and Michael Caine are open to the use of AI. That's because recently, both actors signed a deal with an AI audio company, ElevenLabs. Recently, as reported by Variety, Matthew McConaughey and Michael Caine signed a deal with ElevenLabs, a New York-based AI research company. Both Matthew and Michael are known for their famous voices, and the deal is to create virtual versions of their voices. That's not all, as it's also confirmed that Matthew is so impressed with the work ElevenLabs has been doing that he has also invested in the company. McConaughey said in a statement: Since our first conversation, I've been impressed by how the ElevenLabs team has taken the magic of the core technology and turned it into products that creators, enterprises, and storytellers use daily. ElevenLabs has already been doing incredible work, and interestingly, Matthew has been working on the audio version of his "Lyrics of Livin," in Spanish. According to Matthew, he started the newsletter to take his stories to people, and now, with the help of ElevenLabs, these stories can reach even a broader audience in another language. As for Michael Caine, the legendary actor has joined ElevenLabs' Iconic Voice Marketplace. Basically, this will put the actor's voice in a marketplace, where production houses or other creative companies can request or buy the rights to use Caine's voice in their projects. So, this sort of gives Caine (or ElevenLabs) control over who gets to use his voice and, most importantly, how. ElevenLabs also released a video showcasing the AI-generated voice of Michael Caine. And I must say that it's brilliant work. Here you go: Caine said in his statement that by collaborating with ElevenLabs, he can ensure his voice lives on. The actor says that ElevenLabs is "using innovation not to replace humanity, but to celebrate it." Interestingly, Caine is not the only one who has become a part of the Iconic Voice Marketplace; other actors like Judy Garland, Laurence Olivier, and Jean Harlow have also signed a similar deal with ElevenLabs.

Need Lana Turner or Babe Ruth to Send You a Voice Note? This AI Firm Has You Covered

Artificial-intelligence company ElevenLabs says it is bringing on Matthew McConaughey as an investor as it makes a push to expand its voice offerings to a public seeking the digital locutions of the dead and famous. As part of that push, the company is also launching an "iconic voice marketplace" which will allow users -- mainly brands -- to connect with reps for celebrities living and long gone and work out a licensing deal to use their AI voices. Part-tech company and part AI-voice bazaar, ElevenLabs has thousands of voices of lesser known people it has enlisted for AI voice-generation. Those people, who have consented for an AI to be trained on their voices, can be prompted to say what a subscriber needs them to say without further agreement. (Well, their voice avatars can be thus prompted.) They ring up a commission each time a customer does so -- an Etsy for vocal chords. But what ElevenLabs has yet to do is allow companies (or deep-pocketed people with unconventional appetites) to pay for a customized AI voice from an iconic celebrity, uttering the words the company needs it to say. Enter the "marketplace," under which customers can interface with the celebrity, or their reps or estate managers, to negotiate a paid license for said celebrity's commercial AI-generated message. The upside for the company is the chance to have a celebrity read a promotional message that they need read. The upside for the celebrity is getting paid without having to read anything. The list of actors joining the marketplace isn't long but it is bonkers, and includes the not-so-recently-departed, such as John Wayne, Lana Turner, Judy Garland and Shoeless Joe Jackson (for the 1919 Black Sox fan in your life). It also includes some living celebrities, such as Michael Caine, Liza Minelli and Art Garfunkel. (For a complete list see below.) These celebrities or their estates have only agreed to let their voices be trained; agreements would need to be negotiated separately. Still, the marketplace streamlines the process of hiring a famous AI voice and brings us one step closer to an entertainment world you never imagined and your grandmother would have shooed you for suggesting: a world in which the 20th-century sports or screen icon doesn't go away, they just keep declaiming to us from beyond the grave. Imagine Amelia Earhart selling you airline tickets. J. Robert Oppenheimer pitching alternative energy. Richard Feynman teaching that adult ed class. Judy Garland hawking paving stones. Laurence Olivier peddling Halloween skulls. (Come on, you'd buy that last one.) "We're looking to create a library of iconic voices from all kinds of time periods that can be used for all kinds of creative projects," Dustin Blank, who heads partnerships at ElevenLabs, tells The Hollywood Reporter. "They occupy a space in our collective memory around a lot of important moments." Just the same, he says, this dead-celebrity play should hardly be seen as the company's main use case. "We also have living celebrities and living icons. It's just another offering," he said. To produce these voices, the company uses both voice cloning (capturing the characteristics of a person's voice) and voice replication (which then kicks in when someone prompts a voice using text.) While video generation has grabbed many of the headlines, that realm is painstaking and filled with errors, which is why many experts see AI voices as a much nearer frontier in the push to make media synthetic. McConaughey has already made his own voice available for the ElevenReader app, a pre-existing product that allows customers to chose from a list of authorized voices to read any memo or book to them personally. (If you don't want your emails read to you by Wooderson I honestly don't even know what to tell you.) In addition to his investment of an undisclosed sum, McConaughey will also use ElevenLabs to translate his newsletter Lyrics of Livin' into a fluent flawlessly accented Spanish, which he apparently does not speak. "Since our first conversation, I've been impressed by how the ElevenLabs team has taken the magic of the core technology and turned it into products that creators, enterprises, and storytellers use daily," the actor said in a statement. "I launched my newsletter, Lyrics of Livin', as a way to share stories and ideas in my own voice with those who want to listen. Now, thanks to ElevenLabs, Lyrics of Livin' is expanding with a Spanish language edition, allowing us to reach and connect with even more people." McConaughey in the past has expressed both interest in and caution about AI, saying while he'd like to use it to get to know himself better, he prefers models he can train only on his own material to mass-produced systems like ChatGPT. "I do have a little pride about not wanting to use an open-ended AI to share my information so it can be part of the worldwide AI vernacular," he said on Joe Rogan's podcast last month. I am interested, though, in a private LLM where I can upload, hey, here's three books I've written. Here's my other favorite book. Here's my favorite articles I've been cutting and pasting over the 10 years. And log all that in...so I can ask it questions based on that and basically learn more about myself." Caine is also joining the ElevenReader app; if you've ever wanted War and Peace narrated to you in a Cockney accent, this is your chance. "With ElevenLabs, we can preserve and share voices -- not just mine, but anyone's," Caine said (presumably in his own voice). A litany of VC's have poured at least $279 million into ElevenLabs in the four years since its founding by a pair of Polish-born entrepeneurs named Piotr Dąbkowski and Mati Staniszewski, who worked at Google and Palantir, respectively. They and their partners say voice technology doesn't just connect past generations to the present but living people from different linguistic parts of the globe whose voices would otherwise never be heard. "To everyone building with voice technology: keep going. You're helping create a future where we can look up from our screens and connect through something as timeless as humanity itself -- our voices," McConaughey said in a statement. The company also has a suite of other products, such as "Speech Synthesis," which aims to produce lifelike speech from text, and Conversation AI, which will help developers perfect the voice of AI Agents. If we are soon awash in AI voices -- and increasingly unable to tell them apart from human ones -- ElevenLabs will be the reason why. By giving the famous the ability to negotiate their own deals (and working out a profit-share when they do), ElevenLabs is also avoiding the kind of unlicensed training of celebrity content endemic to some rivals. "This model enables ethical sourcing and licensing of some of the world's most recognizable voices, personalities, and brands -- ensuring that creative use of iconic identities is transparent, fair, and authorized," ElevenLabs said in a press release. Still, even with the ethical sourcing, the question remains whether society should head to a place of dead-voice overload. First, there's the matter of how it might crowd out workaday voice actors. Second, there's the matter of whether we want to be awash in the sounds of Thomas Edison and Mark Twain when the lightbulb and Tom Sawyer seem like legacy enough. ElevenLabs executives say they see little downside in a world of late famous voices available at the swipe of a screen. "There's definitely a demand," Blank said. "We're here to move that along and make sure there's a marketplace where it can be filled." Here's the full list of iconic voices available for potential licensing on the Iconic Voice Marketplace:

Michael Caine and Matthew McConaughey partner with ElevenLabs for AI voice cloning

NEW YORK -- Oscar-winning actors Michael Caine and Matthew McConaughey have made deals with voice-cloning company ElevenLabs that will allow its artificial intelligence technology to replicate their voices. Caine said in a statement that ElevenLabs is "using innovation not to replace humanity, but to celebrate it." "It's not about replacing voices; it's about amplifying them, opening doors for new storytellers everywhere," said the 92-year-old British actor in a written statement. McConaughey also said he is investing in the New York-based startup and has had a relationship with it for several years. Financial terms of the deals were not disclosed. McConaughey said the deal will enable him to voice his newsletter in Spanish. Founded in 2022 and based in New York, ElevenLabs initially developed its technology to dub audio in different languages for movies, audiobooks and video games to preserve the speaker's voice and emotions. But shortly after its public release, ElevenLabs said in January 2023 it was seeing "an increasing number of voice cloning misuse cases" and promised new safeguards to tamp down on abuse, including limiting features to paid users. A year later, however, a digital consultant was able to use ElevenLabs software to mimic then-President Joe Biden's voice in a robocall message sent to thousands of New Hampshire voters. The company now says it has additional measures to block the cloning of celebrity and other high-profile voices without their consent.

Matthew McConaughey, Michael Caine to partner with ElevenLabs for AI...

Oscar-winning actors Michael Caine and Matthew McConaughey have made deals with voice-cloning company ElevenLabs that will allow its artificial intelligence technology to replicate their voices. Caine said in a statement that ElevenLabs is "using innovation not to replace humanity, but to celebrate it." "It's not about replacing voices; it's about amplifying them, opening doors for new storytellers everywhere," said the 92-year-old British actor in a written statement. McConaughey also said he is investing in the New York-based startup and has had a relationship with it for several years. Financial terms of the deals were not disclosed. McConaughey said the deal will enable him to voice his newsletter in Spanish. Founded in 2022 and based in New York, ElevenLabs initially developed its technology to dub audio in different languages for movies, audiobooks and video games to preserve the speaker's voice and emotions. But shortly after its public release, ElevenLabs said in January 2023 it was seeing "an increasing number of voice cloning misuse cases" and promised new safeguards to tamp down on abuse, including limiting features to paid users. A year later, however, a digital consultant was able to use ElevenLabs software to mimic then-President Joe Biden's voice in a robocall message sent to thousands of New Hampshire voters. The company now says it has additional measures to block the cloning of celebrity and other high-profile voices without their consent.

Michael Caine Says Licensing His Voice to Matthew McConaughey-Backed AI Audio Company Is 'Using Innovation Not to Replace Humanity, But to Celebrate It'

Hollywood stars Matthew McConaughey and Sir Michael Caine have licensed their voices to ElevenLabs, an AI audio company which hosts a library of celebrities -- both living and dead. The announcement comes alongside the launch of ElevenLabs' Iconic Voices Marketplace, a storefront for celebrity voices that brands can pay to reproduce. This includes deceased actors such as Liza Minelli, and historical figures such as J Robert Oppenheimer. Dark Knight and The Muppet Chrismas Carol legend Caine is also now one of the celebrities that brands can pay to use. "For years, I've lent my voice to stories that moved people - tales of courage, of wit, of the human spirit," Caine said in a statement. "Now, I'm helping others find theirs. "With ElevenLabs, we can preserve and share voices -- not just mine, but anyone's," Caine continued. "ElevenLabs is at the very forefront of technology, using innovation not to replace humanity, but to celebrate it... It's not about replacing voices; it's about amplifying them, opening doors for new storytellers everywhere." In September, the 92-year-old actor surprised fans by announcing he would come out of retirement to make a sequel to a Vin Diesel movie from a decade ago. The Last Witch Hunter 2 is reportedly being "fast-tracked through development," with Caine and Diesel both expected to reprise their former roles. McConaughey, meanwhile, said he had invested an undisclosed sum in ElevenLabs after being "impressed" by the company. As an example of how his voice will be used, the actor linked to a Spanish-language version of his newsletter -- Lyrics of Livin' -- created using the AI reproduction of his voice, and said it would allow him to "reach and connect with even more people." Earlier this year, Fortnite developer Epic Games raised eyebrows by allowing players to chat with a generative AI version of Darth Vader within the game, voiced by a licensed reproduction of the late James Earl Jones. But while the use of AI voices is becoming more widespread, not everyone is a fan. Last year, Sir David Attenborough issued a strongly-worded statement saying he was "profoundly disturbed" that AI was being used to have him say pretty much anything. Image credit: Lia Toby/Getty Images. Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at [email protected] or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social

Iconic voices for hire: ElevenLabs opens AI marketplace for celebrity audio licensing

Iconic Voice Marketplace makes AI cloning legal, ethical, and commercial In a bold move that signals the evolution of voice-cloning from fringe experiment to commercial ecosystem, ElevenLabs has launched its Iconic Voice Marketplace, a curated platform designed to licence AI-generated versions of well-known voices for creative projects. At the same time, high-profile actors such as Matthew McConaughey and Michael Caine have signed deals to have their vocal likenesses included, underscoring how seriously this new frontier is being taken. Also read: AI vs. artists: What Germany's copyright ruling against OpenAI means for creativity and tech Until now, the world of AI voice-generation has largely existed in the grey zone: ripe with technical possibility, but also rife with ethical concerns and legal ambiguity. With its marketplace, ElevenLabs aims to shift voice-replication into a structured, consent-based commerce model. On one side stand rights-holders - actors, estates or other voice-owners - who grant authorisation; on the other, creators and brands who wish to licence those voices for narration, ads, stories, or campaigns. Each proposed use passes through approval workflows, according to the company's documentation. The involvement of McConaughey and Caine gives the venture immediate credibility. McConaughey, who has been associated with ElevenLabs as an investor, will apparently use the technology to translate his newsletter into Spanish audio, using his own voice. Meanwhile, Caine's voice has been added to the marketplace catalogue, making his unmistakable timbre available (with approval) for external usage. What makes this launch particularly significant is how it reframes the conversation around voice cloning. Instead of asking: Can we clone this person's voice?, the industry is now asking: Under what terms may we use it? By offering licensing frameworks and promoting a "performer-first" model, ElevenLabs is positioning itself as a mediator between technological potential and ethical responsibility. For talent and estates, the benefit is clear: the voice becomes an asset that can continue to generate value, without the performer having to record new material. For creators, brands and content producers, the appeal lies in legal clarity and access to recognisable vocal identities, a shortcut to audience connection. Still, this model doesn't come without layers of complexity. Even when a voice-owner has given consent, the question remains: how will audiences perceive an AI-generated version of a celebrity voice? Will they feel it has authenticity or regard it as a synthetic approximation? The challenge goes beyond technology and into the realm of trust, recognition and cognitive dissonance. Also read: Private AI Compute explained: How Google plans to make powerful AI private There's also a broader ecosystem issue. As synthetic celebrity voices become more widely licenced, how will that affect the traditional market for voice-actors, narrators and dubbing artists, particularly those working in regional languages or smaller markets? Will demand shift toward "known voice + machine-reuse" at the expense of fresh human performances? Finally, while ElevenLabs' curated marketplace is a step toward accountability, it doesn't eliminate the broader risk of unauthorised voice-cloning. Legal licences don't automatically prevent bad-faith actors from bypassing the system, and regulatory regimes around voice likeness are still in flux globally. By securing deals with stars like McConaughey and Caine, ElevenLabs isn't just launching a product: it's establishing a precedent. If major names are willing to lend their voices to AI generations, then the model begins to gain industry-norm status. The ripple effects could extend into advertising, film, podcasts, gaming and any medium that uses voice-work. In India and other international markets the implications are significant. Content creators, brands and advertisers may now have access to global iconic voices (through such licensing platforms) rather than only local talent, raising questions of cost, language-fit and cultural resonance. At the same time, the inclusion of regional or non-English icons could open up new revenue streams and creative possibilities for talent outside Hollywood. The Iconic Voice Marketplace marks a tipping point: the moment voice-AI shifts from novelty to commerce. For ElevenLabs, the core bet is that legal licensing, voice-owner consent and brand-safe usage will trump the cheaper, risky allure of uncontrolled voice-cloning. Whether that bet pays off depends on how creators, talent and audiences respond. In the end, what's being sold is not just a sound-recording, but a likeness, a brand, and a voice identity. As AI blurs the boundaries of performance and replication, the question becomes less if we can clone a voice, and more how we will choose to borrow, respectfully and with consent, the voices that matter.