2 hours ago
9
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 celebrities, such as Ashton Kutcher and Leonardo DiCaprio, have also invested in AI companies.
