Voice AI for Karnataka
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- Nihal Chauhan
- Published
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The first-ever ElevenLabs Summit India took place earlier this month in Bengaluru. At the event, ElevenLabs signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Government of Karnataka to bring voice AI into public services across the state.
Karnataka, home to Bengaluru, has been a leader in using technology to deliver public services. Under Karnataka’s Minister for IT and Home Affairs, Shri Priyank Kharge, the state has prioritized responsible AI adoption and is piloting voice AI in citizen services. For ElevenLabs, the agreement extends a growing body of work with governments around the world, from our collaboration with the UK AI Security Institute (AISI), announced in February 2026, to ongoing partnerships with the governments of Greece and Brazil, among others.
Minister Kharge, and ElevenLabs co-founder and CEO Mati Staniszewski signed the agreement during ElevenLabs’ inaugural India Summit. The MoU with Karnataka covers exploring voice AI for citizen services, alongside voice AI safety and voice restoration, with the goal of advancing government adoption of voice AI for citizen services.
Voice AI for citizen services
ElevenLabs will work with the state’s IT department to explore voice AI pilots that can enhance citizen services, starting with grievance redressals, public helplines, and entitlement schemes. The ElevenLabs team will draw on our work with other governments to make public information more accessible and inclusive. The aim is for every citizen to be heard, in Kannada and the other 13 official Indian languages live on the platform.
A safety framework for voice AI
As part of our commitment to the responsible deployment of AI, ElevenLabs will deploy our industry-leading safety framework with the state, covering deepfake detection, watermarking, consent, as well as limits on voice cloning, and fraud prevention. The framework draws on our collaboration with the UK AISI and other public institutions. The team will also brief local officials responsible for deploying and overseeing these systems.
Restoring voices
Through our One Million Voices program, the team will support citizens of Karnataka who have lost the ability to speak because of oral or throat cancer, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or other neurological conditions. Eligible residents, identified by the state or by institutions working with it, will receive free lifetime licences to speak again using an AI recreation of their own voice, including in Kannada.
Nihal Chauhan
Public Sector Partnerships, APAC
Nihal D. Chauhan leads Public Sector Partnerships for ElevenLabs in Asia-Pacific. Based in Singapore, he builds strategic partnerships with governments and public sector institutions across the region to accelerate their adoption of voice AI. Before ElevenLabs, he held partnerships, policy, and corporate affairs roles at Google, Tata Sons, and Hitachi, including as Chief of Staff to Dr. S. Jaishankar, now India’s Minister of External Affairs. He is a graduate of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University in Japan.
