Two celebrities with iconic voices have signed a deal with an AI company to license AI clones of their voices to other companies. AI audio company Eleven Labs announced Wednesday that it has partnered with the estates of actors Matthew McConaughey and Michael Caine, as well as several deceased celebrities, to create AI-generated versions of their voices that can be licensed through public platforms.
McConaughey is an investor in Eleven Labs, which will use an AI-generated “clone” of his own voice to create a Spanish-language audio version of his Lyrics of Livin’ newsletter. In a statement to Variety, McConaughey said ElevenLab’s AI audio “allows us to reach and connect with even more people,” and encouraged developers of AI audio tools to “keep going.”
British actor Michael Caine is one of the celebrities whose voices will be transformed into AI, along with Liza Minnelli. Also included are voices from historical figures such as Maya Angelou, Judy Garland, Alan Turing, Richard Feynman, J. Robert Oppenheimer, and Babe Ruth. Eleven Labs, with support from Heritage, created these AI voices using historical recordings of voices.
We’ve already seen many celebrities jumping on the AI bandwagon. Last year, Meta worked with several celebrities, including Kristen Bell, Dame Judi Dench, and John Cena, to bring their voices to the Meta AI chatbot.
Eleven Labs’ new marketplace is focused on helping businesses license these AI voices. Eleven Lab is a facilitator. You can request a license for AI audio for a specific person on the Eleven Labs website. The rights holder will review your request and, if approved, Eleven Labs will assist you with accessing the technology. For example, you can’t upload a TikTok script and have it automatically read in McConaughey’s voice.
Celebrities’ AI audio platform for Celebrity Voice isn’t the same as those offered by Meta or OpenAI’s Sora, but it’s another example of celebrities partnering with AI companies. As AI audio, image, and video tools advance, these partnerships are one way to give celebrities and celebrities some control over their likeness.
For individuals whose faces and voices are essential to their reputations and livelihoods, generative AI presents both opportunities and risks. Projects like Eleven Labs’ iconic marketplace are an opportunity for celebrities, celebrities, and influencers to strike deals (and profit) by allowing AI companies to use their names, images, and likenesses to serve consumers. But AI tools are hard to control once they’re out there, and we know the systems AI companies use to prevent abuse. not perfect. That’s why misinformation and deepfakes are a concern for all of us. AI-generated content is harder than ever to find.
Meanwhile, lawsuits from publishers, intellectual property owners, and content catalogs are piling up. A number of companies are suing AI companies, claiming that AI users can create images that are too realistic, violating copyright protections. Disney, Universal, and Warner Brothers are all Sues AI company Midjourneyclaimed that the company’s AI image generator did not adequately prevent users from creating AI images of protected characters such as Scooby-Doo and Shrek. (Disclosure: CNET’s parent company, Ziff Davis, filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in April, alleging that it infringed on Ziff Davis’ copyrights in training and operating AI systems.)
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