The $22B startup co-founder working to make chatbots talk back
Semafor · Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson ·
ElevenLabs’ Mati Staniszewski is betting that “voice AI” will soon become the norm.
The Signal Insight
When Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni moved to trademark her voice last week, she highlighted growing fears about AI deepfakes sounding ever more convincingly like the people they impersonate, from politicians to CEOs. But she also shone a spotlight on the fast-developing business of helping prominent individuals secure rights to their voice likenesses — and on the companies that say “voice AI” will soon become how many people handle customer service and corporate sales calls or interact with devices from cars to robots.
ElevenLabs established itself as one of the most highly valued of those startups this month with a $300 million employee tender, at a $22 billion price tag.