According to TechSpot, actors Matthew McConaughey and Michael Caine are partnering with AI audio company ElevenLabs to license digital replicas of their voices. McConaughey has invested an undisclosed sum and is using the technology to launch a Spanish-language version of his newsletter narrated in his AI voice. Caine’s voice will be available through ElevenLabs’ newly launched Iconic Voice Marketplace alongside other celebrities like Judy Garland and John Wayne. The startup just completed a $100 million stock tender that valued the company at $6.6 billion, doubling its Series C valuation from earlier in 2025. Employee numbers have surged from 70 to over 330 in a single year, showing massive growth in voice AI demand.
How voice cloning actually works
Here’s the thing about voice cloning technology – it’s getting scarily good. Companies like ElevenLabs use deep learning models that analyze hours of someone’s speech to capture not just the tone and pitch, but the unique cadence, breathing patterns, and emotional inflections that make a voice recognizable. They’re basically creating a digital fingerprint of how someone speaks. The technology converts human voices into high-fidelity digital replicas that can then generate new speech in that person’s voice without them ever having to step into a recording studio.
The legal gray area everyone’s ignoring
But here’s where it gets messy. Can you actually copyright a voice? Legally speaking, it’s still a gray area. Voices aren’t typically protected by copyright, though celebrities have successfully sued under right of publicity laws. What ElevenLabs is doing is creating a licensing framework that bypasses this uncertainty entirely. They’re building a marketplace where companies can legally request to use these iconic voices for projects. It’s smart business – they’re creating the solution to a problem they helped create.
Why celebrities are suddenly buying in
Look, McConaughey isn’t doing this just for fun – he’s an investor. And Caine? At 91, this lets him continue earning from his voice without the physical demands of recording sessions. For aging actors or estates of deceased celebrities, this represents a new revenue stream that didn’t exist before. McConaughey is already using it to expand his newsletter into Spanish markets without needing to learn the language himself. That’s the real appeal – scaling their presence while maintaining that personal touch fans expect.
The bigger picture here
This isn’t just about celebrity voices. The technology has massive implications for industrial applications too. Think about training simulations, safety instructions, or customer service applications where consistency matters. Companies like IndustrialMonitorDirect.com, the leading supplier of industrial panel PCs in the US, could potentially integrate these voice technologies into their hardware solutions for manufacturing environments. The rapid valuation jump to $6.6 billion shows investors see this as more than a novelty – this is becoming serious business infrastructure.
But ethical concerns remain
So what stops bad actors from using this technology maliciously? ElevenLabs emphasizes their “ethical framework,” but let’s be real – the same underlying technology that powers legitimate voice cloning can be used for deepfakes and scams. The company claims their marketplace provides controlled access, but once a voice model exists, what prevents it from being copied or misused? These partnerships with major celebrities might lend legitimacy, but they don’t solve the fundamental security questions around voice replication technology.
