Artificial intelligence startup ElevenLabs has introduced a new feature on its Reader App that allows users to listen to books and articles narrated by famous deceased film stars. The company has reached agreements with the estates of Hollywood icons such as Sir Laurence Olivier, Judy Garland, James Dean, and Burt Reynolds to add their voices to the AI-generated voices library. Users can now stream the voices of these actors individually on their phones.

Dustin Blank, head of partnerships at ElevenLabs, expressed his respect for the actors' legacies and the company's mission to make content accessible in various languages and voices. Liza Minnelli, daughter of Judy Garland and representative of her estate, expressed excitement about her mother's voice being made available to millions of fans. Despite the potential of AI voice replication being used maliciously, ElevenLabs aims to ensure consent and compensation for using actors' virtual likeness, in line with recent agreements in the actor contract regarding limitations on AI in the TV and film industry.