ElevenLabs has launched a new platform that’s already sparking conversation across Hollywood and beyond. The AI audio company announced its Iconic Marketplace, a tool that allows creators and studios to license AI-generated recreations of celebrity voices — including the late Maya Angelou and Olympic trailblazer Florence Griffith Joyner (FloJo).
The move brings together entertainment stars, athletes, authors, and historical figures in one centralized licensing hub, all governed through direct approval from rights holders or estates.
What the Marketplace Does
According to ElevenLabs, the Iconic Marketplace is a curated platform that lets studios, brands, and creators request access to use AI-generated versions of iconic voices for narration, campaigns, films, educational projects, advertising, podcasts, audiobooks, or other creative content.
The company stresses that every request must be reviewed and approved by the talent or their authorized rights holder — meaning submissions are not automatically granted. Approval depends on project content, usage, brand alignment, and licensing terms.
ElevenLabs frames the marketplace as an effort to introduce “responsible AI licensing”, ensuring creative use is paired with consent and control from voice owners and estates.
The marketplace launches as part of a broader expansion in ElevenLabs’ AI audio capabilities. The company was recently valued at $6.6 billion after a tender offer led by Sequoia, Iconiq, a16z, and others.
Who’s Involved
Actors Matthew McConaughey and Michael Caine have partnered with ElevenLabs as part of this rollout.
- McConaughey, an early collaborator and investor, is using the technology to produce a Spanish-language edition of his newsletter Lyrics of Livin’ in his own replicated voice.
- Caine has joined the Iconic Marketplace directly, allowing approved projects to license an AI recreation of his voice.
“It’s not about replacing voices; it’s about amplifying them, opening doors for new storytellers everywhere,” Caine said.
Their involvement represents how both living talent and historical figures are being incorporated into the new licensing system.
Full Roster So Far
ElevenLabs’ Iconic Voice Marketplace currently includes the following figures:
Michael Caine, Liza Minnelli, Art Garfunkel, Shoeless Joe Jackson, Judy Garland, John Wayne, Bettie Page, Burt Reynolds, Maya Angelou, Richard Feynman, Laurence Olivier, Amelia Earhart, Babe Ruth, Mark Twain, Ty Cobb, Jack Dempsey, Rocky Marciano, Al Joyner, Johnny Weissmuller, Jim Thorpe, Thomas Edison, Jean Harlow, Lana Turner, Mickey Rooney, Montgomery Clift, Alan Turing, J. Robert Oppenheimer, and Rock Hudson.
The Bigger Picture
While ElevenLabs positions the Iconic Marketplace as a way to preserve, celebrate, and ethically license legendary voices, the move is also fueling deeper conversations in the industry.
Questions around consent, legacy, ownership, and how AI should represent historical figures continue to rise as this kind of technology becomes more widely used. Some see this as a leap forward in storytelling; others view it as another complicated chapter in AI’s rapid expansion.
What’s clear is that technology is enabling voices from across history to be heard again — in ways few imagined even a decade ago.