Bertelsmann Pacts With AI Firm ElevenLabs for Tools to Spur Innovation and Accelerate Production

As a seasoned media professional with decades of experience under my belt, I am thrilled to witness the collaboration between Bertelsmann and ElevenLabs. This partnership represents a significant leap forward in leveraging AI for innovation and productivity enhancement.

Giant German media company, Bertelsmann, has reached an agreement with artificial intelligence (AI) company, ElevenLabs, to leverage their platforms and tools aimed at fostering innovation and enhancing the efficiency of various Bertelsmann operations.

The objective is for these companies to collaborate in discovering methods whereby ElevenLabs’ tools, based in London, can aid Bertelsmann in developing fresh offerings, while also expediting and simplifying the process of manufacturing, advertising, and distributing their current assets.

Bertelsmann is a prominent European media conglomerate that houses several significant subsidiaries. These include RTL Group – a collection of top television channels across Germany, the Netherlands, France, Hungary, Luxembourg, and more; Fremantle, a leading production company; Penguin Random House, the world’s largest book publisher; music powerhouse BMG; as well as divisions dedicated to marketing, education, and investments.

Partners aim to utilize ElevenLabs’ tools for generating realistic voices and sounds, as well as audio solutions to aid in both the creative and preparatory stages of Bertelsmann divisions. The idea behind this is that these AI tools can help Bertelsmann units discover methods to extend their influence and output. It is expected that increased productivity will foster creativity, ultimately leading to the development of intriguing new products.

Rhys Nölke, Chief Data Officer for Bertelsmann, stated that with their Tech & Data Alliance and the new AI Hub, they’ve been pioneering the use of advanced technologies across all their businesses and fostering collaborations to speed up the implementation of GenAI solutions. The AI solutions from ElevenLabs are at the pinnacle of technology, delivering premium quality and multilingual audio experiences.

ElevenLabs specializes in creating top-tier AI models for audio applications, utilizing licensed content from well-known figures in media and entertainment. Notable partnerships include estates of icons like Judy Garland, Burt Reynolds, James Dean, Jerry Garcia, and recently, Deepak Chopra in health and wellness. As part of this agreement, signed in September, Chopra’s unique voice can now be accessed by ElevenLabs users as an audiobook reader. Furthermore, they have collaborated on the development of “Digital Deepak,” an AI chatbot. This chatbot was educated using over 90 of Chopra’s books and numerous public appearances, enabling users to interact with it and receive responses in Chopra’s synthetic voice.

Mati Staniszewski, the CEO of ElevenLabs, expressed that in collaboration with Bertelsmann, they aim to explore the boundaries of storytelling. This means enhancing narratives through refined audio, expediting production processes, and making content understandable in multiple languages. Essentially, their partnership is geared towards bridging the gap between creators and their audience in innovative ways.

It was observed that among the partner companies, 36 of them have incorporated the ElevenLabs AI tools in one way or another, under the umbrella of the extensive Bertelsmann group.

ElevenLabs stated that the collaboration symbolizes a mutual ambition: employing Artificial Intelligence to empower creators in excelling at their skills, rather than replacing them.

2024-11-29 11:16

Bertelsmann Pacts With AI Firm ElevenLabs for Tools to Spur Innovation and Accelerate Production

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