Karnataka takes a citizen-first step towards using AI for public good
Department of Electronics, IT&BT Signs MoU with ElevenLabs to Advance Voice AI for Governance, Safety and Voice Restoration
* Building a Voice AI Safety Framework
* Using AI to Give People Who Have Lost Their Voice a Way to Speak Again
* Exploring Voice AI to Make Government More Accessible
Bengaluru, October 6, 2026
The Government of Karnataka, through the Karnataka Innovation and Technology Society (KITS), Department of Electronics, Information Technology and Biotechnology, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with ElevenLabs Inc., a global voice AI company, to explore the use of Voice AI for responsible innovation, citizen services and social impact.
The partnership will focus on three areas: developing a Voice AI safety framework, using AI-powered voice restoration to support people who have lost the ability to speak, and exploring Voice AI applications that can make government services more accessible to citizens.
Speaking on the partnership, Priyank Kharge, Hon’ble Minister for Home, Electronics, Information Technology and Biotechnology and E-Governance, Government of Karnataka, said:
“AI must ultimately be measured by the difference it makes to people’s lives. Voice AI presents an opportunity to make government more accessible and citizen-centric, but it also brings new responsibilities around safety, consent, trust and the prevention of misuse. Through this partnership with ElevenLabs, Karnataka has an opportunity to work on both sides of that equation — developing stronger safeguards for the responsible use of voice AI while exploring applications that can address real challenges faced by our citizens. The possibility of helping people who have lost the ability to speak communicate again in a voice of their own is a powerful example of using technology for public good. Our objective is to ensure that innovation in Karnataka is not only at the frontier, but is also responsibly deployed to create meaningful outcomes for people.”
“We’re proud to partner with the Government of Karnataka, our first collaboration with a State Government in India. Voice is the most natural way people interact with technology, and we’re excited to work with the Karnataka Innovation and Technology Society to explore how voice AI can make citizen services more accessible and restore the voices of those who have lost theirs,” said Mati Staniszewski, Co-founder and CEO, ElevenLabs.
Building a Voice AI Safety Framework
As Voice AI becomes increasingly capable of generating highly realistic synthetic speech, Karnataka and ElevenLabs will work towards developing a platform-agnostic Voice AI safety framework for the State.
ElevenLabs will contribute its expertise to Karnataka’s Responsible AI framework, with a specific focus on risks associated with voice and audio AI.
The collaboration will examine safeguards around deepfake detection, audio provenance and watermarking, consent for voice cloning, restrictions on cloning public figures, and protection against voice fraud and impersonation.
The partnership will also explore approaches to protecting public-facing government representatives and institutions from unauthorised voice cloning, an increasingly important concern as synthetic voices become more difficult to distinguish from authentic speech.
The collaboration will include knowledge-sharing and capacity-building programmes for government officials and relevant agencies to strengthen awareness and preparedness around emerging Voice AI risks.
Using AI to Give People Who Have Lost Their Voice a Way to Speak Again
At the heart of the partnership is a public-interest initiative to use Voice AI to help people who have lost the ability to speak.
Under the MoU, ElevenLabs will make available free lifetime licences under its One Million Voices programme to eligible citizens identified by the State Government, or by institutions and organisations working under its guidance.
The technology can enable eligible individuals to communicate using a synthetic version of their own voice, including in Kannada. The initiative will support people who have lost their ability to speak due to conditions including oral and throat cancer, ALS and other neurological or degenerative conditions.
KITS is already engaging with AIISH, Mysore, (All India Institute Of Speech and Hearing) to explore the implementation of the initiative and identify eligible beneficiaries who could benefit from free access to ElevenLabs’ voice technology.
This initiative puts AI directly in the service of human dignity and inclusion — using advances in voice technology to help people who have lost their natural ability to speak continue to communicate and participate more fully in everyday life.
Exploring Voice AI to Make Government More Accessible
The partnership will also explore how Voice AI can improve the way citizens access government services and information.
Potential applications include citizen helplines, grievance redressal, access to government information and entitlements, and voice-based interfaces in Kannada and other languages spoken across Karnataka.
The State Government and ElevenLabs will identify suitable use cases for demonstration and pilot projects. During discussions with the Government of Karnataka, ElevenLabs also demonstrated potential applications of Voice AI for citizen engagement and public services.
For Karnataka, with its multilingual population and strong technology ecosystem, voice interfaces offer an opportunity to make digital government services more intuitive and accessible, particularly for citizens who may find conventional digital interfaces difficult to navigate.
The partnership will now move towards identifying specific use cases and pilots across the three areas, with the scope, sequencing and pace of implementation determined by the State Government.
The MoU is voluntary and non-binding and does not prejudice future procurement decisions. Specific initiatives will be taken forward through mutually agreed arrangements and subject to applicable approvals and laws.
The MoU was signed by Dr. Avinash Menon Rajendran, IAS, Managing Director, Karnataka Innovation and Technology Society, Department of Electronics, IT & BT, Government of Karnataka, and Mateusz “Mati” Staniszewski, Chief Executive Officer, ElevenLabs Inc., on October 6, 2026
