UK Government partners with ElevenLabs on voice AI for public services
The UK government has signed a strategic partnership with voice technology company ElevenLabs to explore how AI can improve access to public services for people with disabilities, low literacy levels and non-English speakers.
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology announced the Memorandum of Understanding on 11 June. The agreement runs through 2030 and covers public service applications, AI for government, safety research and skills development.
Voice AI for accessibility
The partnership centres on text-to-speech technology to help citizens interact with government services more easily. AI Minister Kanishka Narayan said voice AI could support people with visual impairments, those with lower literacy levels and older citizens.
The government will test these capabilities in real-world public service environments to understand how they perform at scale.
Research on AI transparency
The partnership builds on existing work between ElevenLabs and the UK AI Security Institute. The two organisations are researching how people perceive AI-generated voices and whether citizens can identify when they're speaking to an AI system.
The research addresses growing concern among regulators about synthetic media and voice cloning. Understanding how awareness of AI involvement affects trust and decision-making will inform policy as these technologies become more common in public services.
Investment in UK operations
ElevenLabs, founded in 2022 and one of Europe's highest-valued AI companies, plans to double its UK workforce this year. The company will expand its London headquarters as part of broader investment in UK research, engineering and commercial operations.
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