Common Questions

What is ElevenLabs and what does it do?

ElevenLabs is an AI speech synthesis platform that provides ultra-realistic voice cloning and text-to-speech APIs. It is used by publishers, game studios, and accessibility platforms to produce audio content at scale in more than 30 languages.

Can ElevenLabs clone anyone's voice without permission?

ElevenLabs' policy requires explicit consent before cloning the voice of a public figure or any identified individual. The company screens requests and has removed access from users who have violated the policy.

Is ElevenLabs regulated under the UK Online Safety Act?

Synthetic audio platforms such as ElevenLabs face compliance obligations under the UK Online Safety Act regarding harmful deepfake content. The Act creates duties around content moderation and, for services accessible in the UK, obligations to prevent non-consensual intimate audio deepfakes.

Background

ElevenLabs is an AI speech synthesis platform founded in 2022 by Piotr Dabkowski and Mati Staniszewski, two Polish engineers formerly based in the United States. Its flagship products include ultra-realistic voice cloning, text-to-speech APIs capable of preserving emotional nuance and speaker identity, and a library of professional voices. Models support more than 30 languages and are used by publishers, game studios, podcast networks, and accessibility platforms to automate and scale audio production. In May 2026, Spotify named ElevenLabs as a partner for AI-powered author narration, part of Spotify's wider AI push alongside DDEX AI-labelling adoption and a Universal Music Group consent-and-compensation deal. Annual recurring revenue crossed $500 million by April 2026, up from roughly $330 million at the end of 2025, on the back of a Sequoia-led Series D valuing the company at $11 billion. On 2 July 2026 the company opened separate tender-offer talks at a roughly $22bn valuation, a capital marker reported without any named media customer attached; it lands alongside TwelveLabs' Series B in the same fortnight, pricing the AI vendor layer higher even as broadcaster-side deals wait on regulators.

ElevenLabs has appeared in UK venture-market analyses as one of several AI companies driving record activity: UK VC reached $7.8bn in Q1 2026, up 60% year on year, with ElevenLabs-adjacent talent platforms (Dex) closing rounds citing it as a reference client. The company's rapid commercial adoption across content creation, accessibility tooling, and game development has positioned it as a reference point in discussions about AI-generated voice and audio consent frameworks, which regulators in the UK, US, and EU are actively developing.

The company sits at the centre of the voice deepfake and consent debate. Audio cloning at ElevenLabs' Fidelity can produce convincing impersonations of real people from as little as a minute of source audio, a capability that has prompted both urgent regulatory attention and commercial demand from entertainment and media. The UK's Online Safety Act and the EU's AI Act Article 50 (taking effect 2 August 2026) both create compliance obligations relevant to synthetic voice platforms. ElevenLabs has published a voice cloning policy requiring explicit consent for cloning public figures, reflecting the same commercial-ethics positioning seen across synthetic-media companies.