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Karnataka is working with voice AI startup ElevenLabs on a tool that could help people who have lost the ability to speak communicate using an AI-generated version of their own voice.
The voice comeback: ElevenLabs has signed an MoU with the Karnataka Innovation and Technology Society (KITS), its first partnership with an Indian state government. Under the deal, eligible citizens will get free, lifetime access to ElevenLabs’ voice AI through its One Million Voices programme.
The technology can create a synthetic version of a person’s own voice, allowing people who have lost their ability to speak due to cancer or neurological conditions to communicate again.
Besides: the partnership could also take Voice AI into everyday government services. Karnataka and ElevenLabs will explore using it for government helplines, grievance redressal, and access to government information and benefits, in Kannada and other local languages.
For ElevenLabs, the deal is also part of a bigger shift from simply generating voices to building AI that can listen, understand and complete tasks. India’s many languages and widespread use of multiple languages make it an important testing ground for this technology. Through its One Million Voices programme, ElevenLabs aims to restore the voices of 1 million people who have permanently lost the ability to speak.
The India advantage: India is now ElevenLabs’ second-largest market after the US, with more than 250 businesses using its technology.
Over the past year, Indian businesses made 100 million conversations on ElevenAgents, with 70%+ in Hindi, Kannada, Tamil and Telugu. More than 25,000 Indian developers and businesses use its API each month, about 2.5x the number a year ago.
India is also central to ElevenLabs’ global push into conversational AI that can understand requests and complete tasks, rather than just generate voices. Its latest model supports 14 Indian languages, with plans to cover all 22 official languages. That bet comes as the global AI voice market is expected to grow from $7.7 billion in 2026 to $21.8 billion by 2030, putting India at the centre of a rapidly expanding market.
Grand View Research
