How ElevenLabs enabled AI-powered dubbing for PM Modi's Lex Fridman interview

Prime minister Narendra Modi's chat with MIT scientist and American podcaster Lex Fridman made headlines for many reasons. The prime minister made comments supporting US president Donald Trump, lauded Elon Musk and his mission with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and much more. He also spoke about artificial intelligence (AI) and what it can enable.

Interestingly, the technology, now indispensable in any sector, was working its magic in that interview itself.

The podcast was dubbed by voice-based generative AI startup ElevenLabs. Using AI voice cloning technology, the company provided authentic voices of PM Modi and Fridman in Hindi and English, even achieving their intonations, emotions, and style of speech.


The audio and subtitles of the podcast are currently available in Hindi, English, and Russian, and more languages will soon be added. The original mix of Hindi and English is also available for those who wish to hear it.

Mati Staniszewski, cofounder of ElevenLabs, said in a post on X, "Inspired by Lex Fridman and Narendra Modi's conversation – so proud of our team for making it accessible in both English and Hindi. ElevenLabs was founded on the back of poor-quality dubbing. Seeing it evolve into an immersive experience that preserves emotion and intent is incredible."


What is AI voice cloning?

AI voice cloning is a technology that uses artificial intelligence to replicate a person's voice. Essentially, it creates a digital copy of someone's voice that can then be used to generate speech.

This has many applications, including creating character voices for video games and animations, personalised voice assistants or customer service tools for businesses, and dubbing videos into different languages in the original speaker’s voice.

Big India market

Siddharth Srinivasan, a senior executive at the firm, had told ET earlier this month that India has emerged as the biggest user market for the US-based startup, with Hindi being among the top three languages.

The $3.3 billion AI audio company, backed by Silicon Valley-based venture capitalists a16z and Sequoia, chose India as its first international expansion market last September and is investing to localise language content.

India is a voice-first market with over 145 million users, which would keep voice input growing, said Srinivasan. Meanwhile, on the output side, India might have over 100 million podcast listeners over the next two years, while AI agents are expected to become a $500 million opportunity by 2030, he said.