Copyright The Daily Beast
Matthew McConaughey and Michael Caine have agreed to separate deals that allow an AI audio company to create licensed synthetic versions of their voices to be used commercially. ElevenLabs announced the Oscar winners’ partnerships on Nov. 11, while also launching the company’s “Iconic Voice Marketplace”—an online space designed to ethically license celebrities’ and historical figures’ voices to companies for audio projects like advertisements and narration. McConaughey, 56, has been an investor in ElevenLabs for “several years,” but will now use the company’s technology to create a Spanish audio version of his newsletter. “It’s been amazing to see the growth from those early days to where the company, and the technology, is now‚” McConaughey said. McConaughey’s voice will not immediately be on the marketplace, but Caine’s will. “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, 92, said. The marketplace will also offer the voices of late stars, like John Wayne, Rock Hudson, and Judy Garland, and living icons, like Liza Minnelli and Art Garfunkel. Historical figures, like Amelia Earhart, Mark Twain, Babe Ruth, J Robert Oppenheimer, Maya Angelou and Alan Turing, will also be available for licensing.
