ElevenLabs CEO discusses AI voice disclosure as valuation hits $22 billion

By Splitfeed EditorialLast updated Sep 26, 2026, 19:17 UTC

On September 24, 2026, TechCrunch published an interview with the CEO of ElevenLabs, an AI voice technology company, timed to a report that the company is now valued at $22 billion. The interview focused on ElevenLabs' role supplying AI-generated voices to customer service call systems, which the CEO described as widespread. No details about the funding round behind the valuation figure were included in the reporting.

The disclosure question the CEO raised sits at the center of a live regulatory and ethical debate. ElevenLabs is not a niche player; if its voices are powering a significant share of customer service calls, then the CEO's position on transparency carries practical weight for how millions of people experience those interactions every day. The comment that disclosure norms might naturally fade once AI calls become a universal expectation is the part most likely to generate disagreement, because it frames the current need for transparency as temporary rather than permanent, which has real implications for consumer protection policy.

None of the three camps have published reactions to this story yet. Pro-AI voices would typically point to a $22 billion valuation as evidence that the market is rewarding innovation in voice AI, and would likely agree with the CEO that disclosure requirements are a transitional measure rather than a lasting obligation. Anti-AI voices would typically treat the CEO's suggestion that disclosure norms will eventually fade as a warning sign, arguing that consent cannot simply be assumed away as technology becomes familiar, and that customer service deception harms trust regardless of how routine it becomes. Middle Ground commentators would typically welcome the CEO's endorsement of disclosure in the near term while pressing for clearer standards about what counts as adequate notice and who enforces it.

The argument is unlikely to resolve through corporate statements alone. Regulatory bodies in the United States and European Union are both examining AI identity disclosure rules, and any binding guidance or legislation on when and how companies must identify AI voices in live calls would shift this debate considerably.