London-based ElevenLabs, a leader in artificial intelligence voice technology, has reached an agreement with HarperCollins Publishers to produce audiobooks for its foreign language business. ElevenLabs' text-to-speech tool will be used to create audio versions of selected deep backlist series, enhancing the accessibility and coverage of HarperCollins' book library.

Founded by former Google machine learning engineer Piotr Dåbkowski and former Palantir deployment strategist Mateusz Staniszewski, ElevenLabs utilizes AI to create natural-sounding speech synthesis. Their technology is among the best in the industry, capable of generating realistic synthetic audio that captures human-like emotions, intonations, and pacing. The company's 'Project' tool designed for publishers enables efficient creation of audiobooks, employing context-aware synthesis or customized voices to ensure a seamless listening experience.

"We are thrilled to collaborate with HarperCollins," said Mateusz Staniszewski, CEO of ElevenLabs. "Our technology allows more books from their impressive catalog to be transformed into audiobooks. Now, every author can see their work presented in audio form, and readers can have more choices, breaking down language barriers in content."

With the help of ElevenLabs' technology, HarperCollins can expand its range of audiobook products, particularly in non-English markets, and offer diverse book options to a global audience. Additionally, this significantly reduces the costs and operational challenges associated with traditional audiobook production.

HarperCollins emphasizes that this partnership does not replace their commitment to audiobooks produced by voice actors, which remains an integral part of their current audiobook creation strategy. Instead, text-to-speech technology will serve as a supplementary tool for producing audiobooks of backlist series in non-English markets. This approach aims to enrich the selection of audiobook formats and drive the development of these markets.