Michael Caine
Actor
Two-time Oscar-winning British screen legend who licensed his voice to ElevenLabs’ AI marketplace in 2025, declaring the technology is “not about replacing voices; it’s about amplifying them.”
In his words
It’s not about replacing voices; it’s about amplifying them, opening doors for new storytellers everywhere.
ElevenLabs is at the very forefront of technology, using innovation not to replace humanity, but to celebrate it.
Biography
Sir Michael Caine (born 1933) is one of Britain’s most beloved screen icons, with a career spanning Alfie, The Italian Job, and Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, plus two Best Supporting Actor Oscars (Hannah and Her Sisters, The Cider House Rules). His Cockney-inflected voice is among the most imitated in cinema. He announced his retirement from acting in 2023 at age 90.
Licensing a legendary voice
In November 2025, Caine partnered with AI audio company ElevenLabs as a marquee name for its newly launched Iconic Voice Marketplace — a platform where companies can request licensed access to famous voices for campaigns and creative projects, with rights holders approving each use. Liza Minnelli and Matthew McConaughey joined the platform in the same announcement wave.
For Caine, the deal offers a way for his voice to keep working after his retirement — on his own terms and with consent and compensation built in. He cast the arrangement as a celebration of human storytelling rather than a substitution for it.
The deal drew scrutiny too: commentators asked what perpetual voice licenses mean for the estates of aging stars, and voice actors’ groups have warned that celebrity marketplaces could normalize synthetic narration in work that once went to living performers. Caine’s answer — that the technology opens doors for new storytellers — is now one of the most-quoted pro-AI statements from Hollywood’s old guard.
Where they stand in the war
Who backs them up
Sources & further reading
Canonical record: https://battlelines.ai/topic/michael-caine