You can use an AI clone of Matthew McConaughey’s voice, if he says it’s okay, okay, okay

Two celebrities with distinctive voices have struck deals with an AI company to allow others to license AI copies of their voices – if they agree. Audio AI company Eleven laboratories Google announced partnerships on Wednesday with actors Matthew McConaughey and Michael Caine, as well as the estates of several deceased public figures, to create artificial intelligence-based versions of their voices, available for licensing through a public platform.

McConaughey is an investor in ElevenLabs, and will use AI-generated “clones” of his voice to create Spanish audio versions of his Lyrics of Livin newsletter. In a statement to diverseMcConaughey said ElevenLabs’ AI voice allows him to “reach and connect with more people” and encouraged those developing AI voice tools to “keep going.”

British actor Michael Caine is also among the celebrities whose voices will be powered by artificial intelligence, along with Liza Minnelli. There are also the voices of historical figures, including Maya Angelou, Judy Garland, Alan Turing, Richard Feynman, J. Robert Oppenheimer, Babe Ruth, and others. ElevenLabs created these AI voices using historical recordings of their voices, with the help of their property.

We have already seen many celebrities joining the AI ​​bandwagon. Last year, Meta collaborated with several celebrities to have their voices heard on its channel Meta AI chatbotsincluding Kristen Bell, Dame Judi Dench, and John Cena.

ElevenLabs’ new marketplace is more focused on helping companies license these AI voices. ElevenLabs is the facilitator; You can request an AI voice license for a specific person on the ElevenLabs website. The rights holder will review your request, and if approved, ElevenLabs will help you access the technology. You can’t upload TikTok text and have it automatically read in McConaughey’s voice, for example.

While ElevenLabs’ celebrity voice-over platform isn’t the same as Meta or even OpenAI’s Sora, it’s another example of celebrities collaborating with AI companies. And with the advancement of AI-powered audio, visual, and video tools, these partnerships are one way celebrities and public figures can take back some control over their likenesses.

For individuals whose faces and voices are integral to their reputations and livelihoods, generative AI presents both opportunities and risks. Projects like the popular ElevenLabs marketplace represent an opportunity for celebrities, public figures, and influencers to make deals (and profit) from allowing an AI-powered company to use their name, image, and likeness and introduce them to consumers. But AI tools are difficult to control once they are available, and we know that the systems that AI companies use to prevent misuse Not perfect. That’s why misinformation and deepfakes are a concern to all of us, especially since they are It’s harder than ever to discover AI-generated content.

On the other side, there is a host of lawsuits from publishers, intellectual property owners, and content catalogs. Several of them have sued AI companies, claiming that AI users can create hyper-realistic images that violate their copyright protections. Disney, Universal and Warner Bros. all Suing artificial intelligence company MidjourneyAlleging that the AI ​​image generator does not adequately prevent 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 that it infringed Ziff Davis’s copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)

For more, check out our hands-on experience with Voice mode for ChatGPT-5.