Karnataka Explores ElevenLabs Voice AI for Public Services
The state is considering pilots in skilling, healthcare and citizen services while examining safeguards against synthetic-audio misuse.
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Karnataka is exploring the use of ElevenLabs’ voice AI in job training, healthcare, investor assistance and citizen services as it seeks practical applications for generative AI in government.
State IT, Biotechnology and E-Governance Minister Priyank Kharge met ElevenLabs executives in Bengaluru on 27 August. No agreement has been signed, and the discussions remain exploratory.
Possible pilots include interview practice in Indian languages, voice-based assistance for prospective investors, speech restoration for people who have lost the ability to speak, and cultural and public-service tools.
The talks also covered safeguards against deepfakes and false recordings presented as official government announcements. ElevenLabs demonstrated an interview-practice tool and discussed watermarking, provenance records and synthetic-audio detection.
The company began embedding Google DeepMind’s SynthID watermark in its generated audio in June. Its detector can identify audio produced by ElevenLabs, although the company says it cannot reliably detect every model or audio generated by other providers.
Kharge asked officials and the company to develop a roadmap and identify an initial pilot that could demonstrate measurable public use.
“Our approach is to engage with companies that are building some of the most capable technologies globally, understand where those technologies can solve real problems, and then move towards pilots that can be scaled across the state,” Kharge said.
The talks are part of a broader push by Karnataka to attract AI companies and experiment with the technology in government. Its AI Cell is responsible for developing and evaluating AI systems for public services.
The state has also held discussions with Anthropic this year and is developing a dedicated AI framework.
ElevenLabs, founded in 2022, was valued at $11 billion after raising $500 million in February.
