ElevenLabs has launched 11ai, a voice assistant that can take actions across your digital tools rather than just answer questions. The assistant integrates with Anthropic’s Model Context Protocol (MCP) to connect with platforms like Slack, Google Calendar, and Perplexity, allowing users to automate tasks through voice commands while maintaining control over permissions and data access.
What you should know: Unlike traditional voice assistants that are limited to answering questions, 11ai can actually execute tasks across your connected apps and services.
- The assistant is powered by ElevenLabs’ library of more than 5,000 voices, and users can clone their own voice if preferred.
- It’s currently available as a free proof-of-concept in alpha, with ElevenLabs seeking user feedback during this experimental phase.
- Users can sign up at 11.ai to try the assistant, customize its behavior in natural language, and configure integrations with appropriate permissions.
The big picture: ElevenLabs is positioning itself beyond voice cloning into the competitive AI assistant market by emphasizing actionable automation over conversational responses.
- The company leverages MCP integration, a system that allows AI assistants to securely connect with different apps and services, which has become an industry standard adopted by major AI companies including Meta, Google, and OpenAI.
- Voice is becoming a key interface for AI systems due to its accessibility, with Google incorporating voice capabilities into basic Search.
How it works: 11ai uses MCP architecture to securely connect with your everyday tools and execute commands based on voice input.
- Users can plan morning agendas, conduct customer research, manage projects, and perform other automated tasks through voice commands.
- “The MCP architecture ensures that all connections are secure and that 11ai only has access to the specific actions you’ve authorized,” the company states.
- Each integration can be configured with appropriate permissions, giving users full control over the assistant’s capabilities.
What they’re saying: ElevenLabs emphasizes the limitations of current voice assistants in accomplishing meaningful tasks.
- “Traditional voice assistants face limitations when it comes to actually accomplishing something meaningful,” the company said in the announcement.
- “They can answer questions but can’t research new findings based on supplied data. 11ai is our foray into addressing this by connecting directly to the tools you use every day through MCP integration.”
Privacy considerations: ElevenLabs’ privacy policy indicates that user conversations may become training data for AI model improvement.
- The company “may process your personal data to research, develop, train, and otherwise improve our AI models,” according to its privacy policy.
- Training practices “disassociate (or fully remove) data included in the training dataset that could identify you with your audio, video, or related content.”
- For voice cloning, ElevenLabs offers different usage degrees and will delete voice data three years after the last platform interaction.
Also launching: ElevenLabs released a mobile app for its voice generation platform, targeting creators, professionals, and educators.
- The app enables users to generate voiceovers and AI-powered audio in 70 languages directly from their phones “in seconds.”
- New users receive 10,000 free characters per month, with the app available for both iOS and Android.
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