8 hrs ago
ElevenLabs Plans Major India Investment in Voice AI
ElevenLabs makes technology that lets computers talk with people.
Its CEO says the company plans to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in India.
The money will help build AI models, hire local teams and work with Indian languages.
The company says its latest model supports 14 Indian languages.
The CEO thinks voice could become an important way for people to use AI.
AI may handle simple, repeated customer-service calls, while people take care of harder conversations.
People may also supervise AI and step in when needed.
The CEO says companies should tell customers when they are speaking with AI for now.
He supports safety checks, but says technology with suitable safeguards should still be released.
CEO Mati Staniszewski said ElevenLabs plans to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in India.
The investment will support model development, local teams and work on Indian languages.
ElevenLabs’ latest model supports 14 Indian languages, and the company is working with Indian businesses on customer support and sales.
Staniszewski expects AI to take on repetitive level-one support, while humans handle more complex cases and supervise AI agents.
He supports AI safeguards and disclosure to customers for now, but opposes a blanket slowdown in development.
- Who
- ElevenLabs CEO Mati Staniszewski and the company.
- What
- ElevenLabs plans a major India investment to expand voice AI development and deployment.
- Where
- India.
- When
- The plans and views were described in an interview; no date is specified in the article.
- Why
- To develop voice AI, support local teams and languages, and serve emerging business use cases.
AI development should continue with safeguards
AI development should slow when risks are unclear
Pace of AI release
AI development should continue with safeguards
Staniszewski said tested technologies with appropriate safeguards should continue to be released.
AI development should slow when risks are unclear
He said companies should slow down when they do not understand a technology’s risks and should build safeguards before release.
AI disclosure to customers
AI development should continue with safeguards
Staniszewski said customers should currently be told when they are speaking to an AI agent.
AI development should slow when risks are unclear
He expects disclosure to become less important as consumers get used to AI agents; customers could also be offered a choice between AI and waiting for a human.
Key facts
- Planned investment
- Hundreds of millions of dollars in India.
- Funding share
- A double-digit percentage of the amount raised, which is close to $1 billion.
- Investment focus
- Model development, local teams and Indian-language work.
- Language support
- The latest model supports 14 Indian languages.
- Expected customer-support changes
- Repetitive level-one work may shift toward AI, with people focusing more on complex interactions.
- Disclosure
- Staniszewski said companies should currently disclose when customers are speaking to AI.
- Safety position
- He supports safeguards and checks, and favors slowing development when risks are not understood.
Sources
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