ElevenLabs + Modi = Perfect English

When Lex Fridman’s podcast featuring PM Narendra Modi was streamed in Hindi, English, and Russian, many called it the “best dubbing to date”. The hyperrealistic AI-generated voices, almost indistinguishable from the original, were powered by ElevenLabs.

By Mohit Pandey

However, this isn’t the first big project for ElevenLabs, the three-year-old AI startup redefining voice technology. It also translated Fridman’s interview with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy into English, Ukrainian, and Russian, showing how AI-powered dubbing can make global conversations more accessible.

For Siddharth Srinivasan, who leads ElevenLabs in India, the country presents a massive opportunity—thanks to its linguistic diversity and growing digital economy. “India is our biggest market, and we’re actively expanding our team here to build the future of voice AI,” he told AIM.

Just the Beginning

Srinivasan, who spent nearly a decade at YouTube, believes AI won’t be limited to text or voice. The future is multimodal—a blend of text, voice, video, and visuals. We think so, too.?

Right now, ElevenLabs supports 11 Indian languages, but the company plans to expand further. Globally, its AI model supports 29 languages, with an advanced speech-to-text model covering 99 languages. "If you get about eight to eleven languages right, you cover 70% of India," Srinivasan said.

Coming back to the podcast with Fridman, PM Modi made one thing clear about the future of AI—“no matter what the world does with AI, it will remain incomplete without India.”?

[Must Watch] Check out the snippet of the podcast here at AIM Front Page ??

As the voice AI space heats up with big players like Google and Amazon, Indian AI startups like Sarvam, Krutrim, and Smallest.ai are entering the fray.?

Read the full conversation with ElevenLabs’ Srinivasan here.

Govt is Also Doing a Lot for Translation

With the growing feasibility of solving the language divide, the Indian government is seizing the opportunity — and startups are stepping up to support the effort.?

The Lok Sabha Secretariat and the MeitY have signed an MoU to develop Sansad Bhashini, focusing on AI-driven in-house solutions to streamline parliamentary operations in multilingual languages.

In another major announcement, UIDAI joined forces with Sarvam AI to improve the user experience for Aadhaar services. Sarvam AI will deploy AI-powered voice-based interactions to enhance resident-centric use cases. The AI solution will support voice interactions and fraud detection in 10 languages, with more language additions in the coming months.

Howdy, Make in India

Indian government’s ambitious ‘Make in India’ initiative, launched in 2014, aimed to transform India into a global manufacturing hub by promoting domestic production and reducing reliance on imports.?

However, therein lies a paradox. While the initiative aims to boost domestic manufacturing, rising imports and strategic partnerships with various countries, particularly China, suggest recurring reliance on foreign technology and investment.?

Read the full story here.