ElevenLabs Inc., a startup that makes artificial intelligence voice cloning technology, quietly launched its first general consumer app last week. The app, called ElevenLabs Reader: AI Audio, can read web pages, PDFs and other documents aloud in the user’s choice of 11 voices. The screen reader is currently free to download and use. The launch marks the entrance for the AI-voice unicorn into the broader consumer market and offers an application of its technology outside its most popular use cases, such as voicing video games and narration of audiobooks. In January, the startup raised $80 million in a funding round that valued it at $1.1 billion. The New York-based company said at the time it would use that money to expand its purview, namely by becoming a media production firm through partnerships in the entertainment world. Most of its arrangements have so far focused on audio-centric content, like an agreement with HarperCollins Publishers to produce audio versions of back-catalog books in various languages. The startup is looking to sell its dubbing technology to YouTube creators, movie studios and news publishers. With this new app, ElevenLabs will compete with established screen reader technology, as well as voice tools offered by many news outlets. While ElevenLabs’ has been swept up in the AI-mania surrounding tech startups, it has also raised concerns that its technology could be used to sow confusion and create deceptive deepfakes of prominent figures. In 2023, the company said its tools had been used for “malicious purposes” and that it would no longer allow non-paying users to create custom voices.
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