[Interview] Eleven Labs CEO of $10 Billion Company Explains "Why We Entered the Korean Market..."

AI Firm Eleven Labs Officially Announces Entry into Korean Market
CEO Staniszewski: "Korea Is Astonishing and Impressive"
"Responsibility for AI Safety... Providing Monetization Opportunities for the Public"

"Koreans are adopting artificial intelligence (AI) at a very rapid pace. I understand that over 60% of people use AI in their daily lives, which is twice the global average. It is truly astonishing and impressive." (Mati Staniszewski, CEO of Eleven Labs)

Mati Staniszewski, co-founder and CEO of Eleven Labs, is giving an interview to The Asia Business Daily on the 21st at the JW Marriott Hotel in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Provided by Eleven Labs

On the 21st, Eleven Labs, an AI specialist company with a corporate value of $6.6 billion (9.7 trillion won), officially announced its entry into the Korean market. Founded in the United Kingdom in 2022, Eleven Labs specializes in AI-based audio tools. The company offers technology that can convert text to speech, provide realistic multilingual dubbing, and replicate a speaker's voice using only a short voice sample. It supports over 70 languages and boasts more than 50 million monthly active users.

Although Korean is somewhat challenging for building AI models and has a relatively small user base, Eleven Labs has set its sights on the Korean market. In an interview with The Asia Business Daily on the same day, CEO Staniszewski expressed his expectation that the company's services could help expand the global influence of K-content, such as K-pop and K-dramas, based on Korea's rapid AI adoption rate.

He stated, "Culture has the potential to expand internationally through technology," adding, "As a personal fan of Korean works, I believe they can reach a broader audience and bring joy to users around the world." He continued, "AI voice technology will completely break down language barriers, enabling speech and content to be accessed anywhere in the world through real-time translation and dubbing."

He also predicted that the company's AI technology could ultimately contribute to Korea's goal of becoming an AI powerhouse and to its economic growth. CEO Staniszewski said, "Countries that adopt AI can accelerate their growth tremendously and potentially join the ranks of the world's top advanced economies. While the government, industry, and the public must move forward together, I believe the potential is certainly there."

Mati Staniszewski, co-founder and CEO of Eleven Labs, is giving an interview to The Asia Business Daily on the 21st at the JW Marriott Hotel in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Provided by Eleven Labs

Collaborating with Korean Broadcasting and Gaming Companies... Reducing Production Time and Costs

Co-founded by Chief Technology Officer Piotr Dabkowski, a former Google engineer, and CEO Mati Staniszewski, formerly of Palantir, Eleven Labs has achieved rapid growth in a short period thanks to its unique technological capabilities. The company is renowned for its ability to authentically reproduce the emotions and nuances of the original work, capturing even the laughter, sighs, exclamations, and breathing of characters. It also improves production efficiency, reducing dubbing time and costs.

Regarding the secret behind growing the company into a business worth 10 trillion won within three years of its founding, Staniszewski explained, "At the time of our founding, the metaverse and cryptocurrency were trending, and there were very few companies focusing on AI. We were able to research models a year ahead of others."

"An interesting point is that our corporate value is always divisible by the lucky number 11. It is currently $6.6 billion, previously it was $3.3 billion, and before that, it was $1.1 billion."

Simultaneously conducting AI model research and developing commercially viable products also helped the company quickly establish its position in the market. He said, "We conducted research and product development at the same time. While researching foundational models in the audio field, we also created products that could actually utilize those models," adding, "We made sure they could be applied to various use cases such as voiceover, narration, dubbing, and conversational agents." The company's business operations are largely divided into two directions: developing a platform for creators and developers, and developing voice technology that corporate clients can use in their work.

CEO Staniszewski revealed that the company has already developed models that generate Korean text and speech and plans to use them in content production for industries such as film and television. He also said that they are working on a project with Krafton to create a service where characters and users can interact during gameplay.

"Imagine playing a game where characters can interact with users. We are collaborating with Krafton, which is developing exactly this kind of technology, and it shows tremendous potential."

He also announced plans to enhance user experience in existing customer service support centers through Eleven Labs' AI voice agents.

Matti Staniszewski, CEO of Eleven Labs, and Sangwon Hong, Head of the Korean Branch, are giving an interview to The Asia Business Daily on the 21st at the JW Marriott Hotel in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Provided by Eleven Labs

Deep Voice Crime Prevention Features..."A Sense of Responsibility for Safety"

The field of AI voice technology does raise concerns about "deep voice" crimes, where the voices of celebrities or other individuals are replicated for criminal purposes. To prevent this, Eleven Labs is conducting research on real-time monitoring, text-based automatic blocking features, and AI-generated content detection technology.

CEO Staniszewski said, "As a leading company in this field, we consider it our responsibility to put safety measures in place," adding, "All content generated by Eleven Labs can be traced back to the account that created it." He also noted that the company has features to monitor and review generated content. For example, if someone attempts fraud or a crime, the system can detect this based on the text and automatically block it or subject it to further review. He continued, "We have released an AI detection model that is publicly available," explaining that it helps determine whether content was generated by AI.

To counter criticism that AI technology takes away jobs, Eleven Labs operates a "Voice Marketplace," providing the general public with opportunities to monetize their voices. By registering their voice on the Voice Marketplace, individuals can earn income whenever others use it. In other words, voices become assets that generate ongoing revenue. Of the approximately 10,000 voices on the marketplace, about 400 are Korean, and the total amount monetized has reached nearly $11 million (16.2 billion won).

CEO Staniszewski predicted that while a significant portion of work will be performed by AI, humans will play a role in enhancing the quality of the output. He said, "A significant portion of the work will be performed by AI-perhaps 80%, 90%, or even 95%-but the areas where people are involved will be those that elevate more complex emotions, intonation, and experience. This will actually serve to improve the quality of the results."